Culture Bearers Series with endawnis Spears - Tomaquag Museum

Carrying Kinship: Indigenous Cradleboards, Community & Survivance

In this one-hour virtual presentation, endawnis Spears (Diné/Ojibwe/Chickasaw/Choctaw) will discuss the formative role of cradleboards in Indigenous cultures and the values they are imbued with.

Cradleboards are integral to a baby's transition into their communities and are a physical representation of relationships to plant and animal relatives, place, and origin stories. endawnis will highlight different kinds of cradleboards from across Turtle Island and use the Awéétsáál (Navajo cradleboard) to illustrate how culture and ways of knowing are introduced to the next generation of kin.