Name: Roger Fernandes with Barbara Lawrence and Paul Chiyokten Wagner
Start: 2025-05-22T19:30:00-07:00
End: 2025-05-22T19:30:00-07:00
Location: The Wyncote NW Forum

Roger Fernandes with Barbara Lawrence and Paul Chiyokten Wagner

Sacred Breath Series

This event has already occurred

Date:: Thursday, May 22
Time:: 7:30 pm PDT
Cost:: $10 – $35 Sliding Scale

Venue

: The Wyncote NW Forum
: 1119 8th Ave (Entrance off Seneca St.)
Seattle, 98101 United States + Google Map

Event Format: In-Person

Note: Doors for this event will open at 6:30 PM.

Town Hall events are approximately 75 minutes long.

Richard Fernandes sits and gestures as he talks, holding a drum in one hand.

Arts & Culture

The Department of American Indian Studies at the University of Washington hosts an annual literary and storytelling series, Sacred Breath, featuring Indigenous writers and storytellers who share their craft at the beautiful wǝɫǝbʔaltxʷ Intellectual House on the UW Seattle campus. Storytelling offers a spiritual connection, a sharing of sacred breath. Literature, similarly, preserves human experience and ideals. Both forms are durable and transmit power that teaches us how to live. Both storytelling and reading aloud can impact audiences through the power of presence, allowing for the experience of the transfer of sacred breath as audiences are immersed in the experience of being inside stories and works of literature.

After a delightful event with author Arigon Starr in March, The Department of American Indian Studies at the University of Washington returns to Town Hall Seattle for another evening of storytelling, reading, and sharing with novelist and storyteller Roger Fernandes.

Roger Fernandes is a Native American artist, storyteller, and educator whose work focuses on the traditional arts, legends, and teachings of the Coast Salish tribes of the Puget Sound region of Western Washington. He is a member of the Lower Elwha S’Klallam Tribe and has a degree in Native American Studies from the Evergreen State College and a Masters Degree in Whole Systems Design from Antioch University. He also studied graphic design at the University of Washington and has focused on learning, creating and teaching Coast Salish art for the past 20 years.

Barbara Lawrence is a Suquamish Tribal Elder and a traditional storyteller. She has a passion for and deep knowledge of Suquamish and Coast Salish history, culture, and archaeology. Raised on the Suquamish Port Madison Indian Reservation, near Seattle, Washington, she was very involved in the conception of the Canoe Journeys through her appointment to the Washington State Centennial Commission. Barbara has served on several Washington State Advisory Boards, committees, commissions, and task forces that bridge tribal and state interests. She currently works for the Suquamish Tribal Education Department. Barbara is the mother of four adult children and the Kiyah (grandmother) to 12 grandchildren and one great grandchild. Storytelling to her grandchildren is her favorite pastime.

Paul Chiyokten Wagner is an award-winning Coast Salish musician, cultural educator, and performer, known for his traditional songs and stories, particularly his work with the Native American flute and tribal drum songs. He is a member of the Wsaanich (Saanich) Tribe and is based in Redmond, United States. He also engages in other artistic activities like wood carving, videography, and photography.

Presented by Town Hall Seattle and The Department of American Indian Studies at the University of Washington.