Leslie Gee

Santee Frazier

Deleana Otherbull

William BraveBull

Dulbert Yazzie

Evelina Zuni Lucero, Isleta/San Juan Pueblo, is a fiction writer and on the faculty of the creative writing program at IAIA. She holds a master of arts degree in English from the University of New Mexico, and a bachelor of arts degree in journalism from Stanford University. She has worked as a journalist for Native news publications.

Lucero is author of Night Sky, Morning Star. She recently received the Ataaxum Fellowship for Native American artists by the Dorland Mountain Arts Colony, which provides a writing residency in the foothills outside of Temecula, California.

Cathy Rexford is Inupiaq of Barrow, and Kaktovik, Alaska. In 2001, she graduated with a bachelor of arts in Native American Studies from The Evergreen State College. She is currently a second-year student in the creative writing program at IAIA. She is a playwright, essayist, indigenous activist and an actor with Inupiat Theater, a company of Inupiaq storytellers and entertainers. In 2003-04, she was a producer of the short films, Aullaaqtuagut, Amignikun, and Our Voices, for the Alaska Native Education Program. Cathy is a board member of the Inuit Circumpolar Youth Conference-Alaska and Native Movement.

Ruth Mustus

Loretta Francis is a first-year IAIA student, majoring in creative writing. She is from the Caddo tribe, but is also of Creek, Chickasaw, Delaware, and Pawnee descent. From Oklahoma, she now lives in Santa Fe with her two daughters, Ashleigh and Eden McIntosh. Writing has been an outlet for her to pass on her oral traditions to her daughters.

Leslie Gee is Caddo/Delaware/Choctaw from Oklahoma. She is a creative writing student and plans to graduate with her bachelor of fine arts degree in May. Selections of Leslie's fiction, non-fiction, and poetry have been published in The New Plains Review and The Institute of American Indian Arts' anthologies Bone Light and Neon and Chlorophyll. She is an honor student and recipient of the Truman Capote Scholarship as well as a General Mills Tribal Scholar. She currently lives in Santa Fe with her two daughters.

Santee: When the American public sees Native Americans protesting something like Columbus Day, we are nothing but complainers within this great system of industry. Why would a people who own casinos, bingo halls, smoke shops, and who receive free healthcare be against the American status quo? This question seems elusive to the rightwing element running this country, which is bent on making our funding, rights, race, culture, and benefits disappear. I think the Native American perspective should be valued within the global community, and bring to light a slew of issues concerning injustice and genocide that is still being carried out today.

Deleana Otherbull is Crow and Northern Cheyenne from Lame Deer, Montana. She is currently a junior in the creative writing program, working towards her bachelor' of arts degree. She is deemed a poet, but would also like to think of herself as a fiction writer. Her greatest inspiration comes from Bernhard Schlink and Louise Erdrich, her top two favorite writers. She would one day like to write novels and books of poetry as well as children's books. After graduating with her bachelor's degree, she hopes to go into a master's degree program focusing on human development so that she can figure out why she is the way she is.

William J. BraveBull was born November 22, 1972, in Bismarck, North Dakota, of Lakota and German descent, an enrolled member of the Standing Rock Nation, Fort Yates, ND. He has an associate of fine arts degree from IAIA and is working towards his bachelor of fine arts degree in creative writing.

Dulbert Ray Yazzie is full-blooded Navajo, originally from Pinon, Arizona. Currently, he and his fiancé are in the four-year creative writing program at the Institute of American Indian Arts. They both hold associate of liberal arts degrees from Dine' College. Dulbert has published in the Tribal College Journal. His goal is to keep writing and become a teacher at Dine' College, where his educational venture began. After he and his wife graduate from IAIA, they would like to attend University of Arizona.

Tristan Ahtone is a member of the Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma and from various points north, south and east of Santa Fe. He defected from the fine arts program to join the creative writing program only to find that he has no talent in the area of writing and still finds himself working full time as a graphic and web designer. As a result he is considering entering the exciting and adventurous field of chartered accountancy. A full resume on Ahtone, for those interested or bored, is available at his website: www.cowboykiller.com