Inspired in the Matriarchland: Trekking the Land as a ‘Rooted’ Relative in Northwest New Mexico

Join Venaya Yazzie for a conversation about art, poetry, land, and the enduring relationships between people and place. A Native woman artist and poet, Venaya Yazzie draws continual inspiration from the lands of her matriarchs at Dziłnaodithłe (Huerfano), New Mexico, in the eastern region of Dinétah. In her work, she explores what it means to live on and care for the land while understanding it as a relative rather than simply a place. Venaya Yazzie grew up on the eastern region of Dinétah and is Hooghanłani Diné and Hopi. Her poem “Ancestors in Us, With Us” is prominently featured prominently in the exhibition “Rooted Strong: Visions of America from New Mexico,” and inspired the exhibition’s title. An alumna of the Institute of American Indian Arts, Yazzie will share the experiences, places, and ancestral connections that inform her creative practice and her understanding of what it means to be a “rooted” relative. This event takes place at New Mexico Museum of Art, Plaza Building, 107 West Palace Avenue, Santa Fe, and has ASL interpretation.