Artistic Director's Personal Statement of Identity, Rulan Tangen
Artistic Director's Personal Statement of Identity
October 11, 2020
SUMMARY
Dancing Earth Founder and Artistic Director Rulan Tangen’s mixed ancestral heritage is Kampampangan and Pangasinan from Luzon Island, known colonially as part of Pacific archipelago of the Philippines, and Norweigian/Irish lineage, while she lives in the partition of Turtle Island which is often referred to as the U.S. For over four decades, Tangen has been invited into, and extended invitations for, collaborative work with global Indigenous artists and intergenerational community members locally and globally. Dancing Earth has been committed to working with Native American, global, and mixed Indigenous artists to support, nurture, and highlight diverse Indigenous embodied values and ways of being through creative artistic practice.
FULL STATEMENT
Artistic Director Rulan Tangen is an Indigenous 1 contemporary dance Choreographer/Director who founded Dancing Earth Indigenous Contemporary Dance Creations 2 in 2004. Rulan’s ancestral bloodlines include Kapampangan (aka Pampango and Pangasinan ethnolinguistic groups living in archipelago now known as the Philippines) on her maternal side, as well as Norsk (Norwegian), Irish, and French via Canada on her paternal side. She has also been formally (ceremonially), and informally, adopted or claimed by specific Native families within North America. Rulan’s work supports inter-tribal and inter-cultural collaboration and grows community-led dance works as platforms for Indigenous worldviews and First Nations experiences.
“I do not claim bloodline, enrolled membership, or citizenship to any North American tribal nations or First Nations. My sense of cultural inclusion (as a diasporic mixed woman of color in America) is through personal and extended familial connections. With these community kinship ties, I and others have inaccurately associated my identity as North American Native. These include: the Lakota name I was given, my sanctioned participation in powwows as a Northern Plains traditional dancer, the regalia gifted to me during Hunka ceremony, the language and songs I carry- all of which are part of my explicit responsibilities within those relations; as well as the designations of Métis and Blackfeet/Kainai I used in ways I believed at the time to be appropriate. It is my intention, and that of my mentors and chosen kin/adopted families, to generate good relations rather than provoke assumptions, triggers, or commit fraud. It feels necessary at this time to bring to light details that I had previously preferred to discuss in person. My hope is to address any misperceptions around my identity to ensure that I am not contributing to the violence 3 that appropriation of Native identity has enacted” - Rulan Tangen
LIFE OF CONSTANT MOVEMENT
Origins
Rulan Tangen’s life of constant movement began with birth in Oxford, England, to an American citizen expat mother who was protesting involvement in the Vietnam war. With an unsteady childhood, Rulan often found herself staying with maternal grandparents who originally came from Luzon Island of Philippines and made their home in San Francisco after World War II. Since childhood, she had minimal contact with her father (who struggled with mental health) or with the patrilineal side of her family except for some letters.
Purpose
Rulan's international dance career 4 led to the founding of Dancing Earth in 2004. After years of teaching dance workshops to reservation youth starting in the 1980s, and having survived stage 4 cancer in the early 2000s, Rulan emerged back into life with newly clarified purpose: She strove to create hope and opportunity for aspiring Indigenous performers, theater artists and technicians, who also serve as culture carriers, art educators, and leaders. Dancing Earth has shared workshops and performances in eighteen states and nine countries, and continues to perform in a variety of venues, spanning gymnasiums on reservations, riverbeds in canyons, college dance studios, opera houses, and now online platforms.
Lifeways
Rulan’s cultural lifeways expanded after being invited to South Dakota in the late 1980’s to be mentored by elder Geraldine Ziegler, originally from Crow Creek (Kȟaŋğí Wakpá Oyáŋke) (whose lineage includes Laura Spotted Hawk and Lucy One-In-Center) but who spent her adult married life as part of the Kul Wicasa Oyate (Sicangu)Lakota. While there, Rulan became involved with Northern Traditional powwow dancing and helped start the Maka Chante children’s powwow dance group. After seeing how much the children in it looked up to Rulan, Geraldine requested tribal elder Garfield and wife Bertha Grassrope as well as Floyd Hand, to give the Lakota ceremony through which two persons adopt the Hunka 5 relationship toward each other. This making of relatives ceremony culminating in Rulan’s name-giving, application of symbolic paint, ritual preparation and eating of ‘wasna,’ and acknowledgement through dance entry into the wacipi (powwow dance circle), as well as becoming a reciprocal member of Geraldine’s Lakota family, as witnessed by the community.
Hunka (adopted) Lakota
Though Geraldine Ziegler has since passed, Rulan has continued to honor and acknowledge her Hunka Lakota family relations, and the Lakota lifeway teaching of “Mitakuye Oyasin” (we are all related). Rulan continues to fulfill Hunka ( meaning ‘adopted’) Grandma Geraldine’s cultural directives including to: Use her gifts to inspire subsequent generations with culture and creativity; Remember cultural histories, stories, lifeways and teachings as passed down by elders; Maintain principles embedded within a symbolic object she was gifted; and, Uphold Lakota 6 and other Native languages whenever possible.
Burdeau Name
Over 20 years ago Rulan met George Burdeau (Blackfeet); George's last name -- Burdeau 7 , -- was the same name mentioned as a family name in the few letters that Rulan's patrilineal grandmother had sent her. Through discussion of their family lines, George and Rulan came to understand themselves to have a shared name that connected them to Blackfeet heritage (relating them as Blackfeet whose ancestors inherited a French voyager name). In 2018, birth certificates from Rulan’s patriarchal line confirmed a conflict with the surname spelling, with Burdo and Bordeau instead coming from Irish sources. When Rulan contacted Mr. Burdeau about this, he responded by affirming he sees Rulan as a relative – not based on bloodline or documentation – but out of respect for her, writing to her: “You’re still my relative where it counts the most! Life is about striving for balance with each step we take which makes us kinetic by nature, where everything changes with each breath we take.”
Funding Protocols
Here are protocols used by Dancing Earth and Rulan when considering applying for any funding opportunities. These are designed to certify whether these opportunities are intended exclusively for Native American peoples, or are open more broadly. Her approach is:
1) To contact the funding agencies directly and ask for details of their definition of cultural eligibility (these might include: Enrolled/not enrolled, US States both mainland and island, US territories beyond US continental borders, Canada, Americas, mixed heritage, people living on original homelands, global Indigenous peoples), to understand if any or all of the below criteria would allow Rulan or Dancing Earth to be considered.
And/or
2) To ask if the funding can be used for a group project, rather than for one artist.
And /or
3) To provide any requested documentation or alternative documentation such as: Backgrounds of leadership and of artists, letter of support from specific Native community or advisors 8 who are involved, or letter confirming relationship of applicant(s) to a specific community.
Fellowship Concerns
An example: A fellowship was awarded to Rulan after the above questions/responses about eligibility were put forward before submitting an application, based on yes for one of the criteria mentioned above. To serve the required criteria, the letter of community involvement and kinship from Métis-Chippewa Cree-Anishinaabeg community member and Aboriginal Arts leader Marrie Mumford supporting the application resulted in the listing of “Rulan Tangen (Metis)” in a public announcement of this fellowship, which was for a proposal of project that supported 28 First Nations artists to collaborate. When outside research into her genealogy in 2018 raised questions about having Métis 9 -- or any Native association -- being listed alongside her name, Rulan contacted all funders, presenters, and educational invitations, including the funder, to address the concerns and invite dialogue about appropriate mutual action 10.
Advisory
As Rulan has consistently reached out to those who had adopted or claimed her, as well as to Native American/First Nations/global Indiegnous cultural mentors, elders, and associates for advice regarding matters, their advice consistently has covered these three main points:
- The right of each cultural community to self-determine kinship terms, self-determinations that are diverse and can change over time, and that this is not appropriate for external monitoring.
- Given that issues of kinship are complex and different with each First Nation, the response to challenges of identity are best addressed by not investing energy in that direction but rather by making a clear choice not to respond to critique, and instead continuing to show with one’s life actions and how one is part of community.
- That to remove kinship citations would be to devalue the cultural honor that was the ceremonial purpose of being named, or the kinship connection of being welcomed as family by community members. (2020 update: In acknowledgement that this is not the same as ancestral bloodline, moving forward these personal relationships will be upheld privately and culturally.)
Dancing Earth
The work Rulan produces and co-creates with Dancing Earth 11 dancers is centered on her intention to visibilize and strengthen vibrant, diverse, contemporary Native and Indigenous peoples, to facilitate creative opportunities for them and for the land, and to support and strengthen Native and Indigenous communities. These intentions are driven by her life experiences- not centered on her stories/personal narratives but commitments to the communities in which s she is deeply embedded.
Resources
Rulan’s positioning in the arts world is to provide creative-cultural-contemporary experiences for Native youth, and to make opportunities for Indigenous dancers (and all aspects of production) through paid professional activities such as workshops, touring and performance making. The care, leadership, embodiment, and connectivity is what makes up the identity of Dancing Earth and these are deeply rooted in relationship-building. Indigenous contemporary dance is our way to connect, heal, learn, discuss, grow and engage, and to create and redistribute power in the wake of a devastating history. This is a fluid, collective model and collective vision: Artists and community collaborators are invited to co-create and shift society’s dominant understanding of diasporic Indigeneity.
Generative Economy
After its founding in 2004, the Dancing Earth company worked for six years on a shoestring budget from basic earned income, then with project-based support including:
- National Dance Project (for Of Bodies of Elements and SEEDS: Regeneration).
- National Theater Project (for Between Underground and Skyworld).
- Native Arts and Cultures Foundation (for Walking on the Edge of Water).
- MAP Fund (for Groundworks).
- Expressive Arts Award of the National Museum of the American Indian, which allowed the company to share performance and engagement with local Native communities in rural Montana, Arizona, and South Dakota.
- Other grants for travel support have allowed Dancing Earth to accept some of their many invitations for International Indigenous cultural exchange.
During times when there’s been a lack of grant and income, Dancing Earth has been powered by in-kind support from a loving community. We’ve received generous support from farmers offering locally grown produce, kind neighbors offering spare beds, studio space discounts, and other services. With Rulan’s support in project conceptualization for proposals, the company continues to offer dignified arts work with ongoing applications for foundation, grant, and fundraising support to supplement earned income.
"As a Diné artist, my family, my community and my people were heavily impacted by the pandemic. During this time of hardship, Dancing Earth not only employed my work as a creator. The company allowed me to not just amplify my voice and of others in the company, but it has amplified the voices of all our communities during this time. People will hear us, see us and no longer are we limited in our ability to have our voices heard. We are reclaiming spaces beyond what we could have imagined." - Natalie Benally, Diné
Community
Dancing Earth directly redistributes 12 funding resources to support Native and Indigenous artists, culture carriers, and communities to compensate them for their creative time. The work includes programs designed to meet the specific community needs, and advocacy for diverse local and global Indigenous perspectives in forums, art performances, universities, and more.13 To date, over 10014 Indigenous intergenerational and interdisciplinary artists, and community members from over 28 First Nations have co-created with Dancing Earth.
"Working with Dancing Earth recently has helped me EVOLVE and stay on the cusp of what is being done, and more so, what is possible by learning from collaborators about the latest tech innovations. The CONNECTION to other amazing beings and having space to be heard and hear each other was HUMANIZING... We were all able to assure each other that we still have each other and that we are stronger together... not only as collaborators, but as community, as FAMILY." - Lumhe Micco Sampson, Mvskoke/Seneca
Additional Notes/Further Context
1. Rulan’s Indigenous connection has origins through her own genetics and bloodline -- by way of her lineage of peoples of the Pacific archipelago known as Philippines, which was occupied and colonized for hundreds of years by Spain and the U.S. She continues to grow through ongoing relationship building, accepted responsibility, and earned respect. Her interest in creating welcoming spaces, fostering inclusivity, and building global Indigenous relationships stems from the multiple ways of being in relation. Rulan’s role in many of these endeavors has been as a creative conduit for Native and Indigenous diasporic community members, and as a bridge across divides by supporting their desires to tell their stories. This has often led to community members reciprocating with attestations of cultural connections and relations.
2. The word “Indigenous” in the company name “Dancing Earth: Indigenous
Contemporary Dance Creations” refers to first peoples globally. It is used intentionally, as the term Native American or American Indian signifies original peoples of the United States and can involve specific treaty rights and Sovereign Nation status. The company artists, tech crew, collaborators, volunteers, interns, and staff include people who are Indigenous to the Americas, enrolled Native Americans, non-enrolled Native Americans, Native and Global Indigenous heritage peoples. These may also include people who are separated from their respective cultures, languages, and communities through many forces beyond their control or by generational choices, and global Indigenous diasporic peoples such as of the Pacific, sub-arctic circle, and Afro-Native peoples. Through third party media or in descriptive writing, the term Indigenous or Native have been used interchangeably, this clarifies the preferred term and intention.
3. There is a long history in the U.S. of cultural fraud in relation to Native identity. This appropriation has enacted violence against Native peoples, including in the monetary gains that non-Native imposters sometimes make; the resources, jobs, leadership roles, and authority impostors can take up; and the inaccurate, stereotypical, and static images of Native people they often perpetuate, which perpetuate discursive violence by legitimating colonization’s ongoing attempts to erase vibrant, diverse and contemporary Native peoples.
4. Rulan comes from a strong dance lineage, starting as a teenager as a very rare dance student “of color” in the Marin Ballet. Later continuing to New York working professionally in ballet and eventually in modern dance through Peridance (with choreographer/mentor Miguel Valdez Mor) and then her extended career as a soloist with Michael Mao Dance, with whom she toured Norway and France (origin lands of surnames on her father’s side). She also participated in the Northern Plains Women’s Traditional, on the powwow circuit, with the Maka Chante group, and later assisting with the Aboriginal Dance Program at the Banff Centre for the Arts. Rulan’s dance career includes opera and circus performance, educational programming, and international engagements in Canada with Karen Jamieson Dance, which was a site specific project “The River”. Rulan has maintained long ties to Canada (cited as birthplace of her paternal grandmother), and is where she continues to facilitate collaborative projects as a choreographer.
5. The Hunka relationship may be difficult to understand outside of Lakota culture, yet it binds each to Hunka ties of fidelity stronger than friendship, sisterhood, or family, and a relationship with spirit that cannot be undone. This Lakota ancient ceremony means that Rulan carries the honor and responsibility to be recognized as a “Hunka Lakota” relative to Geraldine’s family, with the understanding that this does not confer membership status in the Lakota Nation.
6. This last instruction has manifested through several projects highlighting language, including evolving teaching methodologies and mentorships for educators and families; and the production of mainstream film projects the first of which allowed for reconstruction of Powhatan language to be returned to Powhatan people. More recently, through an acting role, Lakota language involvement in a film as coached and approved by the film’s Lakota cultural advisors Ben Black Bear and Yvonne Russo. Rulan’s financial contribution supported the needs of families involved in Standing Rock.
7. Later, in Canada, Rulan met others who carried relationship to the Burdeau name, such as Olivia Tailfeathers, who also cited oral networks connecting the Burdeau family to extended families of Blackfoot, Blood, and Kainai, and who encouraged Rulan to own her name and be proud of this lineage.
8. As project leader, and as requested, Rulan provided a letter affirming community relationship instead of blood/tribal affiliation (which she does not have). With a community relation letter from Marrie Mumford (Métis), which highlighted Rulan’s service, time, and community connection. The letter also acknowledged the earlier use of the term/name Métis as applicable to mixed heritage people and the appropriateness for Rulan to be recognized under that term. As a result, Rulan was given approval to apply on behalf of the project, and also as the project leader.
9. Though Rulan had previously referenced herself using the term ‘Métis’, which in that era was applicable to ‘mixed heritage’ also inclusive of French-Scots-Irish,she now understands that in Canada, the term is now reserved for Red River historical Métis descendants only.
10. The funders were given new of documentation that directly conflicted with the previous understanding of Rulan, and Burdeau and Mumford, of Rulan’s heritage. When presented with this evidence, both Mr. Burdeau and Ms. Mumford decided to proactively assert kinship versus bloodline, with Mumford asking for her words to be shared with the funder.
11. Dancing Earth is respectfully based in the Ogha Po’oge – occupied and unceded Tewa territory known as Santa Fe, NM and Yelamu – occupied Ohlone territory known as San Francisco, CA. Dancing Earth is a grassroots and project-based organization, who collaborates with a convergence of artists, farmers, cultural advocates, and activists across the Nation and Internationally. Dancing Earth serves Indigenous communities by co-creating dance productions of environmental, social or cultural themes, and under the guidance of Native and Indigenous elders. Through careful consultation, the artists are advised about the most appropriate themes for widespread sharing, including diversity as well as sacred land and water for the health and wellness of all people and the planet.
12. Dancing Earth is distinctive in its financial structure as it operates from a place of equity. This is reflective in how staff, tech, and artists are paid at equal rates. This, however, excludes Rulan’s compensation as she often donates her time with extended work hours, exceeding 40-70 hours over the years. She has historically contributed much of her freelance fees to support Dancing Earth with the exception of prioritizing higher rates of hourly honoraria for cultural elders participating in the opening of performances.
13. In 2019, Doris Duke Charitable Foundation Leadership funding allowed Dancing Earth to retain a part time management cohort (still paid at same rate as artists), and to secure and expand multi-disciplinary cultural arts education and training programs. This year , Rulan also worked with staff, artists, and tech advisors to transition from in-person to online educational programming and performance to support artists and culture carriers during the challenging Covid-19 era.
14. Inter-tribal and International Indigenous collaborating community and artists, as well as recent emerging female leaders include:
Anne Pesata (Abaachi), BA in Environmental Policy with a minor in Peace and Conflict Studies, who subsequently worked as a Community Health Representative with the Jicarilla Community Health & Fitness Center, and spearheading a variety of different programs to serve her community.
Natalie Benally (Diné), first Native Programs Coordinator, at Girls Inc. of Santa Fe.
Lupita Salazar, Northern New Mexico Chicana dancer and permaculture farmer and Agricultural Programs Director with the Northern Youth Project, as well as past Theater Instructor with Moving Arts Española.
Talavai Denipah Cook (Hopi, Dine, and Okay Owingeh Pueblo) who holds a degree in Environmental and Organismic Biology, and who is currently obtaining a Master's Degree in Tropical Conservation Biology and Environmental Science at the University of Hawaii at Hilo.