Downtown Las Vegas is a magnet for murals. Older buildings with wide-open walls are ideal canvases for the creative mind.
And if you’ve been down there very recently, you might have noticed some new murals focusing on Indigenous stories.
They’re part of an effort called Murals for Change by Tribal Minds, a Nevada-based organization working to amplify Indigenous voices. They’re doing this in collaboration and with support from entertainment giant Paramount.
Tribal Minds founder Brian Melendez said the project sought to prioritize Indigenous authenticity and visibility, as well as inspire its audiences. But he also sees the partnership with Paramount as a vehicle for mutual understanding, which ultimately benefits his organization and community.
"We pride ourselves as a proverbial bridge organization," says Melendez. "And what that means ... is that we exist with the intention that we want to make these relationships with people who are outside of our systems. When we make those relationships with people outside of our systems, we're learning a lot about how other people in the world are working. So that way they can make their way into our communities and understand how we're working. So I believe that transition, and that transference of information and education about each other, is really helpful, especially as we're trying to position ourselves for different things in our community systems and ecosystems, whether that be academic or economic."
Kostan Lathouris, a tribal law attorney and Las Vegas Paiute chief judge who is very involved with the regional Indigenous community, attended the murals' unveiling last weekend and was moved by both the art and the representation it provided. It was an example of what he sees as increased attention finally being put on Indigenous stories, voices and concerns.
"I think that there's a lot of traditional values within indigenous communities that are surviving the test of time," says Lathouris. "And I think that a lot of other communities are looking to that in listening to it and seeing the value there. Not that it has to be a value to be important. But it does have value as well. I think that we see it at the federal level with the consultation policies, where the federal government [is] saying, if we're making decisions that affect tribes, they should have a seat at the table. And I think that should be said about anybody who's going to be affected by [their] decisions should have the opportunity to be at that table and be heard about their concerns."
Both Melendez and Lathouris hope that Tribal Minds' work in Las Vegas and with local artists like Fawn Douglas will result in more collaboration and camaraderie between northern and southern tribes. "I think now we're starting to see these tribes, especially with the availability of communication that we have and technology, reaching out and working with each other," says Lathouris. "We're starting to see that change, because at the end of the day, even though [the north and south tribes] might be separate, they share a lot of the same values. They want a lot of the same things."
Guests: Brian Melendez, founder, Tribal Minds; Kostan Lathouris, chief judge, Las Vegas Paiute Tribal Court, and federal Indian and tribal law attorney
