Keeping Culture Alive

Part of our ongoing cultural work is creating special items that help tell our unique history. Some of these items are ceremonial, some are practical, all are culturally important to who we are – and to where we are.

While we have published the first volume of our BÍ YATÍ (dictionary), work is soon to start on the second volume! This will focus on sentence structure, common phrases, etc. – learning to actually speak our language!

In addition to our language, we will be working on preserving our oral history and cultural stories, with the generous assistance of The National Performance Network (NPN), with funding from the Doris Duke Foundation: Documentation & Storytelling Initiative. We’re hoping to include recordings with our elders, for current and future generations to learn from.

Nant’a has created two very important “new artifacts”; Ał IziiK’edełé (Sage Pillow) and TcetéŁi (Horse Blanket). The Sage Pillow is a ceremonial item, the Horse Blanket is a more practical item used for…well…horses, of course, but also used to sit on at ceremony, or at home – and made of woven KiGotcoTcícBiTséra – Spanish Moss! The blanket measures almost 30″ square.The next project is a similarly styled Horse Collar, and a second TcetéŁi.

We are grateful for the generous support of a few organizations that help us move forward with our cultural journey:

• The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation: 2025-2026 Louisiana Cultural Equity Arts & Creation
• The National Performance Network (NPN), with funding from the Doris Duke Foundation: Documentation & Storytelling Initiative