Reaghan Tarbell. For over 50 years, the Kahnawake Mohawks of Quebec, Canada occupied a 10 square-block hub in the North Gowanus section of Brooklyn, which became known as Little Caughnawaga. Little Caughnawaga tells the personal story of Mohawk filmmaker Reaghan Tarbell from Kahnawake, Quebec, as she explores her roots and traces the connections of her family to the once legendary Mohawk community through the stories of the women who lived there.

Founders of the American Indian Women's Service League meet in 1960.“Founded in 1958 in Seattle, the American Indian Women's Service League (AIWSL) was the first organization in Seattle dedicated towards tackling the problems of urban Indians. It raised public consciousness of important urban Indian issues, brought Indian cultural traditions to the city, built a sense of community among Seattle Indians, and started an expansive network of essential social service organizations dedicated to helping urban Indians.” From Karen Smith, “American Indian Women's Service League: Raising the Cause of Urban Indians, 1958-71”

From the artist’s statement: “The Urban Indian Series is a comment on personal identity and cultural commodity in today’s contemporary culture. Specifically, what is my culture as it compares to the mainstream understanding of Native Peoples? My regalia is both a catalyst in the image, breaking up the sea of mundane western garb, and a representation that is part of my everyday, much like my culture, thus challenging the suggestion that I am out of place in a world that only identifies with conformity. The work serves to question ideas of tradition, identity and culture that are often negated or replaced by Western cultural standards.”[Link] http://www.nmai.si.edu/exhibitions/hide/terrance.cfm