We, Native Deaf People, Are Still Here!

The We, Native Deaf People, Are Still Here! exhibition is taking over Chapel Hall at Gallaudet University for two years, from 2024 to 2026. The portraits and busts, which have sat in the building for decades, have been relocated elsewhere, along with the Gallaudet at 150 and Beyond exhibition, allowing Indigenous Deaf peoples to lead the space with stories, artworks, and more. The exhibition focuses on decolonizing and indigenizing Chapel Hall. Indigenous Deaf people tell their own stories, and explore what it means to reclaim and to heal through art, language, and history. Elements of the exhibition include:

• Land acknowledgment mural by Nancy Rourke
• Educational lounge featuring books by Indigenous writers and activities for families
• Sign language and tactile features

The exhibition opened on Thursday, October 17, 2024, the same day as Gallaudet University’s healing ceremony for Building 103.

Community Curators

Dr. Melanie McKay-Cody is a Cherokee Deaf and earned her doctoral degree in linguistic and socio-cultural anthropology at the University of Oklahoma. She has studied critically-endangered Indigenous Sign Languages in North America since 1994 and helps different tribes preserve their tribal signs. She also specialized in Indigenous Deaf studies and interpreter training incorporating Native culture, North American Indian Sign Language and ASL. She is also an educator and advocate for Indigenous interpreters and students in educational settings. She has also taught ASL classes in several universities, schools and communities for over 44 years. She is one of eight founders of Turtle Island Hand Talk, a new group focused on Indigenous Deaf/Hard of Hearing/DeafBlind and Hearing people.

Nancy Rourke’s name sign is N3 for the three primary colors she uses in her artworks. Art has been her primary language. She attended Rochester Institute of Technology and graduated with a master’s degree in computer graphic design and painting. Nancy launched her De’VIA (Deaf View / Image Art) expressionism works in 2010 and has not stopped since. Her artworks are on permanent display in the Silesian Museum in Katowice, Poland. Nancy is an enrolled member of Mesa Grande Band of Mission Indians in the Kumeyaay Nation in California. She lives in Colorado. 

Rachel Kills Small is an Oglala Lakota Deaf woman who was born and raised in South Dakota, but currently resides in Iowa.  She grew up the reservation and is not a member of the Turtle Island Hand Talk organization, which makes her a unique contributor to this exhibition’s development. She is very passionate about Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) and environmental rights.  She has also been committed to preserving Plains Indian Sign Language.  In 2019, she was selected as Deaf Women of Color’s Overlooked Gems.

Decolonize and Indigenize Art Exhibition Curators

Yá’át’ééh! My name is Vergena Chee, Ya’dez’bah, and I am a full-blooded Native American. Ákót’éego diné asdzáán nishłį́ (in this way, I am a Navajo woman). I live in a rural area on the Navajo reservation. My clans include Tsénahabìłnii (sleeping rock), Dziłtaah Kinyaa’áanii (towering house clan), Haltsooí (Meadow people), and Táchii’ii (Red running into water people). I’m a college student. I’m currently majoring in Art History. My fascination with cultural rituals, beliefs, and intermixing inspires me to study Art History. (You can imagine how pleased my parents were with my major because they place a high value on our history and traditions). I love exploring new places, meeting new people, and visiting Native festivals that are held.

Robin Massey was born and raised in Georgia and is of Cherokee origin. She earned a BA in ASL Studies from Gallaudet University and a Master’s in Teaching American Sign Language Program from McDaniel College, also worked in various schools, including New Mexico School for the Deaf and Maryland School for the Deaf, Columbia Campus. Now she works for ASL Center, ASL2 Program and JumpStart ASL Program at Gallaudet University and advisor to the Indigenous People Student Alliance (IPSA).

Nancy Rourke (bio above) is also curating the Decolonize and Indigenize exhibition.

Events

Watch this space for events connected to the exhibition.

Land Acknowledgment

Gallaudet University is on unceded land of the Piscataway and Nacotchtank peoples. We ask you to join us in acknowledging the Piscataway and Nacotchtank communities, their elders both past and present, as well as future generations. Gallaudet also acknowledges that it was founded upon exclusions and erasures of many Indigenous peoples, including those on whose land this university is located. This land acknowledgement demonstrates our commitment to the process of working to dismantle the ongoing legacies of settler colonialism. This exhibition was funded in part by HumanitiesDC.

Through their grantmaking, HumanitiesDC supports Washingtonians and local organizations interested in helping build a vibrant city where all can engage in intellectual exchange, reflect on our connected stories, and celebrate our various cultures. With their public programs, they partner with local experts, scholars, and creatives to design and host unique initiatives, workshops, discussions, performances, storytelling gatherings, and more that explore the culture of our nation’s capital. To learn more about the grant opportunities, programs and how you can become involved, visit humanitiesdc.org. HumanitiesDC grantmaking and public programs are made possible in part through funding from the National Endowment of the Humanities and the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities.