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I have been fortunate. As a native woman my mother cleaned houses and hospital room into her 70s, my father, a WWII Navy vetern, tended bar, dying young of a stroke. They made it possible for me to have a culture, a determination, and a foothold in life. I am a Spokane, an artist, a mother, a grandmother, a wife, an activist for native rights, a college graduate, an academic Dean, a professor, a speaker, a voice, an American Indian, a human being. I live today. Holding an Associates degree in Fine Art from The Institute of American Indian Arts, Bachelors in Fine Art from The College of Santa Fe, Masters of Fine Art from the University of Illinois and an Honorary Doctorate in Fine Art from Mitchell College, New London Connecticut. My art, lecturing and teaching has centered around achieving a national shift in the perception of native people. All too often we are still seen as objects or as a people trapped in the past-tense. We are twenty first century people, and must be seen as such in order to deal with the serious issues that face us today. Yet, even in the aftermath of a momentous civil rights movement we are invisible under the weight of “mythology.” Our Native Students need to be recognized so that they can contribute to the larger community.