There’s a new creative space that opened in October dedicated to celebrating the art and collaborative traditions of Indigenous peoples.
Cahokia was created by co-founders and partners, Eunique Yazzie of the Navajo Nation, and Melody Lewis, who is Hopi, Tewa and Mojave.
Yazzie and Lewis have been in this space for about three months creating an environment that can be welcoming to all the artists who they refer to as creatives.
Yazzie is a creative designer, while Lewis is an entrepreneur primarily interested in workforce and economic development.
“My biggest passion is and always will be, how can I support an individual to uplift their work and help them grow,” Lewis said.
Cahokia provides networking opportunities for each artist that comes in. Jesse Yazzie, who shares a last name but is not related to co-founder Eunique Yazzie, is a full-time artist now working on a few different mural projects with support from the co-founders.
“I can utilize the network here and accomplish what I want for my artistic career,” Jesse Yazzie said.
Lewis said she is most excited to support individuals like Jesse Yazzie on their creative ventures.
The artists at Cahokia are able to share ideas and expand from one another’s creativity.
“There’s a lot of collaboration that comes in here,” Yazzie said. “One person has one idea, and then five people jump on it and the idea is successful.”
Dustin Lopez, a creative who’s passionate about storytelling and retired firefighter said “I wish something like this existed a long time ago,” when asked about working with the members at Cahokia.
“The reason why I say that is because this is all community-based,” Lopez said.
The founders of Cahokia take pride in working as a team. The members meet weekly to brainstorm and discuss project and event ideas.
“Eunique and I are on the papers as co-founders but we aren’t the ones who decide what happens in this space,” Lewis said. “The most fun part of this job is that we have no idea what’s going to happen next.”
Cahokia has been holding events every week since they signed the lease. The very first event that was held was an event run by Yazzie. He created a mural workshop for the Phoenix Union High School District’s Native American program.
Cahokia will market the art created in their space through a pop-up market every First Friday, the self-guided art walk held at the beginning of each month in downtown Phoenix and Third Friday’s, also known as “Gallery Night” in the Roosevelt Row Arts District.
First Fridays are more casual but Lewis is excited to host more curated events on Third Friday which is designed to bring art buyers into downtown to see the latest creations from area artists.
Lewis said people often think of Native Americans as Cherokee and Navajo because they’re some of the largest and well-known nations. Both Cherokee and Navajo consist of hundreds of thousands of members, but Cahokia is home to many different tribes.
There are 22 tribes in Arizona, and there are 574 across the United States. The Cahokia founders say all are welcome at their space, and the members of Cahokia are open to collaboration no matter their ethnicity.
Lewis said for anyone that’s wanting to start any kind of business or wants to venture into a different realm as a potential career or “side hustle,” Cahokia is interested in helping share their experience of building a brand.
“If you want to learn more about how to become a business or start entrepreneurship ventures, we want to be that space so you can network and learn,” Lewis said.
Visit: Cahokia SocialTech + ArtSpace is located in the Roosevelt Row Arts District at 707 N 3rd St., Suite 130.
Contact the reporter at jqmoya@asu.edu.
