Vivyan Lopez

laxayam, my name is Vivyan. I’m 22 years young and I am an enrolled tribal member of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde in Grand Ronde, Oregon. My 2nd great grandmother is Kathryn Jones Harrison of the Molalla and Eyak tribes, and my 5th great aunt is Molalla Kate Yel-Kus of the Molalla Indian tribe. I currently attend Portland Community College as an online student, and plan to transfer to the National University of Natural Medicine in Portland, Oregon. There, I will study Nutrition and Naturopathic Medicine with hopes of sharing what I’ve learned with my tribal community.

There are many things in this world that I view to be important, respected and honored. However, life itself is the most sacred to me. Without the gift of life, we wouldn’t have any of our personal experiences, connections to community and our time here with our beautiful mother earth. Within my cultural traditions, the long house is sacred. It’s a place to come together and celebrate life, give thanks to all that we have, and share our healing songs and dance with others. It holds life, memory and energy. Without the gift of life, there would be no house. I created a canvas out of raw cow hide, and painted a long house that replicates the same house that is on the CTGR Reservation and powwow grounds. I used natural pigments from plants as paint, which included pinks, reds, greens and black.