Champions for Change
Remembering Our Sisters
Brave Heart
California Native Youth Collective
Building Communities of Hope
Creative Native
Democracy is Indigenous
The Creative Native Call for Art by the Center for Native American Youth (CNAY) celebrates a cornerstone of Indigenous culture by providing space and support for Indigenous artists, ages 5-24, to showcase their talents.
In 2025, CNAY asked Native youth to submit art inspired by the following prompt: What is sacred to you? What is important to you and your community? Is it a place, person, a tradition, a story, the young people of your community? Is it a smell, a sound or a language? All interpretations were welcomed!
All artists are featured in the Creative Native Gallery and have the opportunity to receive national recognition. One winner is chosen from each age group to receive a categorical award of $300. One artist (15-24) is also recognized as the grand prize winner, and receives $1,000. Due to the record-breaking number of submissions received in 2025, the team also selected an honorable mention in each category.
5-9 Years Old: Aaden T. (Ponca), Age 7
About the Artist: Aaden is a 7-year-old boy of Japanese & Ponca heritage who loves music. He enjoys singing, playing rhythms on anything he can find & discovering new sounds. Whether he’s listening to his favorite songs or making up his own tunes, Aaden brings creativity & joy to everything he does.
About the Art: “My art piece shows my tribe, Ponca of Oklahoma. It means that we should honor our ancestors & always be kind. The teepees represent home, the peace pipe represents peace for all & the sun gives us life.”
Honorable Mention: Marcelino H. (Isleta Pueblo & Navajo), Age 9
10-14 Years Old: Chamish Ashoyn D. (Pala Band of Mission Indians), Age 13
About the Artist: Chamish Ashoyn is on the Junior Honor Society at her school & has a active role in a program called the Youth Change Makers. She is a basketweaver, seamstress, youth artist and a person who loves her culture.
About the Art: “My art piece is about playing a game that I enjoy very much and have played my whole life. The game is called Shinny. I wanted to showcase how I would have friends or relatives playing with me on a team. Since I believe animals are our relatives, I drew my relatives as animals.”
Honorable Mention: Charlie H. (Choctaw), Age 13
15-19 Years Old: Kenneth H. (Catawba Indian Nation), Age 17
About the Artist: Kenneth has been learning traditional pottery methods since 2023, taught by former Chief & Master Potter Bill, along with his aunt Elizabeth. Their art collective, Blue Heron Clay, advocates for and preserves the 4,000 year art form that is Catawba Pottery. They dig and prepare clay from ancestral riverbanks, build vessels using the coil method, burnish using river stones and fire in a pit.
About the Art: “This piece was made with clay I harvested by the river, the most sacred thing to my tribe. I have been taught the importance of not just making art, but also making functional pieces, just as my ancestors did. I started with a traditional pitcher, then added a bear (nimęɁ) to represent strength and healing.”
Honorable Mention: Rylan Funmaker (Ho-Chunk), Age 19
20-24 Years Old: Halcyon Levi (Southern Cheyenne, Arapaho & Kiowa), Age 21
About the Artist: Halcyon Levi is Southern Cheyenne, Arapaho & Kiowa, and I grew up in southwestern Oklahoma. Her Cheyenne name is Ameohtse′he′e (Walks with the Woman). To her, this name represents facing life’s challenges with strength, and continuing to move forward no matter what. She’s 21 years old and has been drawing since she was a kid. She will graduate in the spring as one of the first Sand Creek Massacre descendants from the University of Denver.
About the Art: “Star Girl – made with colored pencils and ink – was inspired by my people’s creation story, how we come from the stars and are meant for them. The iron in our blood connects us to the fragments of stars that existed long before us. When I look to the night sky, I think of my ancestors who did the same. This piece was created on an authentic 1940 ledger, continuing my tribes’ tradition of using ledger art to carry our stories. The girl, dressed in a traditional Cheyenne buckskin dress, holds a star wand to represent this connection.”
Honorable Mention: Christina “Mool-Mool” Kaltsukis (Yakama Nation), Age 23
Grand Prize Winner: Sikuyva Dawavendewa (Hopi), Age 20
About the Artist: Born and raised in Tuba City, AZ, Sikuyva is from the lower village of Munqapi. He is full-blooded Hopi and of the Rattlesnake clan, Tsu’wungwa. He has been attenting different art markets & shows in Santa Fe, at the Heard Museum & Autry Museum. As someone who has been doing art as long as he can remember, Sikuyva just wants to inspire more future artists, like many more before him.
About the Art: “The Kiipok Katsinam are a distinct group that appear alongside the Tsutskut (clowns) during Tiikive ceremonies. While the clowns represent the human journey from misbehavior to understanding and respect, the Kiipok Katsinam reinforce the moral principles of the Hopi way of life. They serve as guides and enforcers, reminding both clowns and community members to stay on the right path. Some Kiipok join in the clowns’ antics, while others act as authoritative figures who discipline the clowns, correct their behavior and ultimately purify both them and the people through symbolic ‘war.’”
