Dawn M. Spears of the Narragansett Indian Tribe has won the 2024 American Indian/Alaska Native Heritage Month poster contest, hosted by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS).
Her winning artwork, “To All Our Relations,” was picked by Rhode Island NRCS for the national poster. This year’s theme, “Facing East, Where Land Meets Water,” celebrates indigenous peoples of the coastal northeast.
Spears explains, “My painting shows the beautiful first relationships across the landscapes and waters of the Narragansett people. It reflects our culture and connection to mother earth and father sky.”
Rhode Island State Conservationist Phou Vongkhamdy is thrilled to feature Spears’ work. “Dawn’s piece really captures our theme and shows how people, land, and sea are all connected,” he says.
Based in Ashaway, R.I., Spears leads the Northeast Indigenous Arts Alliance. She and her husband, Cassius Spears Sr., started the Narragansett Food Sovereignty Initiative in 2014 and run Ashawaug Farm.
Every year, NRCS creates a poster with American Indian or Alaska Native artwork for American Indian/Alaska Native Heritage Month in November. This event aims to highlight intertribal cultures and teach people about indigenous heritage, history, art, and traditions.
NRCS helps with conservation on working lands by supporting producers and communities. They’re now working to include Tribal Ecological Knowledge and Indigenous Stewardship Methods in their conservation plans.