One of the questions we’d always ask is, "What’s more important to you, for the people? Is it the land, is it the language, is it the songs, the dancing, is it the art?" All of those things and the foods, the way of life. Often the answer would come back, "Those are all the same thing."

A lot of people have two sides: they have their work side and then they have their home side. But with Natives, a lot of them have three sides. They have their work side and they have their home side. But then they have their Native side, represented by their regalia, and traditions. It’s a way of life to them, but a lot of people don’t see all three sides of them.

Tim Keenan Burgess (Paiute/Shoshone) is the multimedia program director for WOTE. He is also co-producer/co-director of the films The Peoples of Western Oregon and The Peoples of Eastern Oregon, which are about the importance of looking to Native cultures for an understanding of how to address climate change and live harmoniously with the Earth. Read the entirety of our interview with Burgess in the American Artscape issue, Contemporary Culture: Equity and Access in the Arts for Native American Communities.