Social Media is not Indigenous

Sep 19

After being away for our tribal ceremony all summer, getting back on social media is the hardest thing for me to do for our business. The focus when I am home on my Karuk ancestral lands is preparing for and participating in my tribal ceremony. The pace is slower, the work is physical and spiritual. The emphasis is on who we are and what we are doing for ourselves, our children and our people.

Social media is the opposite of all of those things. It is a fast, easy, handheld, snapshot of the parts of life we choose to show. It forms peoples opinions and judgements. It gives all of us a false sense of reality and lacks what is actually important.

I have a love/hate relationship with social media but I am trying to use the platform for what it can do: get our info/messages out, connect us with each other, share our talented artists and promote our business :)

Here is us (below), our partnership in life has spanned over 20 years with sweetness and struggle. We have owned this business Tattoo 34, together for 7 of those and we have made my summer Karuk ceremony a priority for all of them.

This picture was taken of us after 2 months of prep work and right before fasting, dancing, minimal sleep, and living outside with our village. After a powerful and healing ceremony there is a lot happening as we come back to faster paced Portland and get our business brains back in gear.

I will be getting all of our socials and website updated soon. Let me know in the comments if there is anything you can't find info about- that you want to know- about the artists, shop, tattoo process or anything else!

We really appreciate the continued support from our tattoo artists, clients, and local + Native business resources. Thank you all!