Native American communities have unique cultural, linguistic, and artistic traditions that require specialized design approaches. Traditional design firms often lack the cultural competence and understanding to effectively serve Native American clients. This leads to a lack of representation, misrepresentation, or appropriation of Native American cultures in design.
Sovereign Native Creative was founded because of our love of design and to create a business that speaks to our community. Non-Native designers often struggle to accurately represent Native American cultures, leading to stereotypes and misappropriation. Sovereign Native Creative makes content, illustration, fashion, and design that's relevant to Native communities and businesses. This ensures that the designs are not only aesthetically pleasing but also meaningful and culturally significant. Sovereign Native Creative aims to empower Native communities by creating designs that promote cultural pride, identity, and self-determination.
SOVEREIGN NATIVE CREATIVE
Sovereign Native Creative is a Indigenous husband/wife team headquartered in the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community. Located in the Tallawhalt village between Similk bay and the Swinomish Channel in northwest Washington.
Our work together has spanned over the years as a family and musical team in the band Black Belt Eagle Scout, started and led by Katherine Paul. Working together as a team we promoted the band by designing our own merchandise, social media content, branding, posters, album art, music videos and much more. Using our designs as well as working with other Indigenous artists was the only way to create something that could represent our culture and community.
ABOUT US
CEO/FOUNDER SOVEREIGN NATIVE CREATIVE
Camas Logue is a multidisciplinary artist and enrolled member of the Klamath tribes from the ewksiknii, modokish, and numu people. Logue’s practice includes graphic design, illustration, painting, carving, and performance art.
Camas believes art and storytelling are a fundamental aspect of culture. It is through the sharing and interpretation of stories that cultures convey their values, norms, and meanings. A culture that is unable to tell its own stories lacks a vital mechanism for self-expression, identity formation, and transmission of cultural knowledge. For Native peoples to exercise our rights of sovereignty, it is crucial that we have significant control over our representation, encompassing both text and visual aspects. As a illustrator and graphic designer Camas offers a unique perspective deeply rooted in his culture and community. His mission with Sovereign Native Creative is to promote cultural sovereignty through innovative and authentic visual storytelling.
Logue’s paintings utilize layering and washes of wild-foraged and commercial pigment. He creates his own tools and brushes to apply paint on wood panels or paper. He uses fine graphite lines to create patterns within the layers of the work. Logue is interested in representing the dynamic events that occur at the earth’s surface, using various materials and actions to mimic natural forces. Logue’s practice involves immersion in nature, deep observation and meditation while on the land. He transfers information through gestural movements and applied process. Logue believes we can see the interconnectedness of all creation by reading the patterns in the land.
Logue’s carving style comes from his study of Klamath and Coast Salish design elements and stories. Logue has studied and worked with master carvers Kevin Paul (Swinomish). Brain Perry (S’Klallam), Xwalacktun-Rick Harry (Squamish and Kwakwaka'wakw), and James Johnson (Tlingit). Logue creates carvings for commercial and large scale pieces including poles and tribal community installation projects.
CREATIVE DIRECTOR
Katherine Paul is a Swinomish/Iñupiaq singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Her music is influenced by post-rock, alternative rock, and Native American traditional music. She has released 2 EP’s and three albums under the moniker Black Belt Eagle Scout. Her self-titled EP as Black Belt Eagle Scout was released in June 2014. Her debut studio album, Mother of My Children, was first released by Portland tape label Good Cheer Records in 2017, then re-released in September 2018 by Saddle Creek Records. On April 26, 2019, Saddle Creek released a Black Belt Eagle Scout single titled "Loss & Relax" on a seven-inch vinyl backed with the B-side "Half Colored Hair".
Black Belt Eagle Scout has been compared to other West Coast bands such as Mazzy Star and Nirvana. The Seattle Times refers to Black Belt Eagle Scout's sound as "intrinsically Northwest", because of Paul's blending of Pacific Northwest rock and Coast Salish traditional music.[ Pitchfork calls Mother of My Children "a collection of pensive rock songs saturated with an oceanic mood".[ John Amen of PopMatters gave The Land, the Water, the Sky a score of 9/10, noting, "Black Belt Eagle Scout teaches us, guides, and inspires us, all the while dazzling us with lush atmospheres, seismic rhythms, and a voice that unfurls from another and perhaps a better world."