I was born at the Santa Fe Indian Hospital and grew up in the heart of Los Angeles but visited New Mexico every summer. My father mentored with renowned Native American artist, sculptor and author Roxanne Swentzell and I discovered the joy of sculpting. Working around Roxanne's farm and helping with her creative projects was my doorway to art and a passion for Native American rights and environmental protection.

I graduated from Dartmouth with a degree in environmental science and a studio art minor. After returning to Santa Fe, I began working with ceramic sculpture under the watchful gaze of my father and his uncle, two renowned southwest artists. 

A trip to Navajo Land in 2014 opened my eyes to the environmental degradation wrought by eighty years of uranium mining leaving over two thousand open mines that leak radioactivity into Navajo communities. Natural beekeeping, native plants and medicinal mushrooms can heal the land around these mines and protect the Navajo communities. 

It a massive project and long overdue, but your donation will allow us to provide the Navajo with honeybees to pollinate native plants, pollinator gardens and even mushrooms to detoxify the soil!

Join the Hive!

The Problem:

This is a map of some of the over 2,000 uranium mines leaking radiation on Navajo land. Some of these mines have been open since WW2 and have caused massive damage to Navajo people, livestock and plant life. Many are close to rivers that spread the radioactivity hundreds of miles downstream. This is no longer just a Navajo problem, but everyone's problem.

The Solution:

The Navajo People have received funds to cap these mines so they no longer leak radiation. However there is a massive amount of work that needs to be done to clean up over seventy years worth of radioactivity and destruction to human health, rural economies, livestock and plant life.

This summer we will begin placing honeybees, native bee nests, medicinal mushrooms and other pollinators on Navajo Land. 

Including:

~ Honey bees to pollinate plants and provide honey to create income for their Navajo beekeepers. 

~ Native Bee Nests to encourage the over 4,000 types of solitary bees to thrive on the land and pollinate a variety of plants, tress and fruits.

~ Bat Houses to encourage bats to live on the lands to provide natural pest control.

~ Native grasses, flowers and shrubs to help the soil revive.

~ Bee gardens full of flowers, grasses and shrubs that bees, moths, hummingbirds, and other pollinators love.

~ Mushroom inoculation of the radioactive sites based on Paul Stamet's research to help increase the rate of detoxification by 10,000 fold. 

~ Invite you to visit Navajo Land and see for yourself the awesome work your donation will make possible. Participate in celebration ceremonies for the bee hives and gardens.