Liam Miller’s Bio
Aloha!
My name is Liam Miller and I am one of the founding members and artists of Tradish-ish LLC!
Both the practice of my Hawaiian culture and my passion for art have been big parts of my life since my childhood days.
Raised by a hard working father and a proud Mother of Hawaiian decent, I learned to take pride in both who I am, and what I can do in this life.
Through the teachings of my mother about the Hawaiian lifestyle and ways, to our culturally revitalizing practices; my entire life has been heavily driven by Hawaiian values. The importance of a loving family, having kind giving nature, and thankfulness instilled an appreciation for others and the gift of the land around me.
I remember taking part in practices such as performing the Hula for the sake of sharing the aloha, to holding traditional style luaus(cookouts) where we dug Imu pits to cook our pig underground using hot lava rocks and Ti leaves. Participating in paddling a traditional Hawaiian outrigger canoe was one of the biggest privileges I was given and I loved it!
As for my more artistic side, from the early days of drawing (being one of my first hobbies) I knew I would keep a strong passion for creating art throughout my life. Despite my being told that art would not be enough to provide, I always kept the hobby present in my life. Eventually I found ways to utilize my artistic abilities in a modern world of technology through Interactive Media, storytelling through Animation and the all popular Video Game field. I constantly pitched ideas derived from Native Hawaiian characters and creatures through my time studying these topics in college.
All of these aspects of my past have led me to where I am now. I have had the privilege of finding a partner with the same passion for culture and art that has been so prevalent in my life.
With that, I utilize my knowledge gained through my studies of art and tech, combined with my life practices and beliefs influenced by Hawaiian values to create unique and expressive pieces of art which we now wish to share with the world here at Tradish-ish!
Bethany Fackrell’s Bio
wiʔaac
Hello, my name is Bethany Fackrell.
I am a founding member and artist of Tradish-ish LLC, a veteran, and a member of the Snoqualmie Tribe.
My passion for art started at a young age, I regained that passion in adulthood after my service in the Navy. In my transition from the military to working for my Tribe in 2017, I became an active tribal member again. I joined the tribal color guard and re-joined in cultural ceremonies, gatherings, meetings, harvesting, and an overall way of life as a Snoqualmie Tribal member.
When I regained my native childhood roots, I started to express my experiences with art on hand painted deer skin drums.
Each drum I have painted has been gifted, even as a girl I loved to gift my art, it is also a huge part of our culture. I carry on this tradition by gifting my painted drums to others even to this day. As my experiences and teachings grow so does my art. I use traditional Salish patterns in a contemporary way to bring my culture to light and to share our ways that differ from many other Native American Tribes. My art pieces offer this by spreading teachings, stories, and real experiences.
From as far as I can remember, as a child my tribe has always been a 2nd home to me and the foundation for that home is family. Memories of our office trailer, where my elders fought for our tribe’s re-recognition. Memories of us kids fighting in line to ensure our elders were feed first. Memories of gifting when we had next to nothing to give, catching salmon from night till morning, and gatherings at our sacred falls. Decades of memories, most importantly memories of my canoe family.
Some of my most honorable moments were pulling in our canoes from our home rivers to the ocean waters of Lummi in 2019, as well as being a part of the restoration of the Kokanee at Lake Sammamish. For me, it’s all about offering my hands whenever, wherever, or however I can. Raising my hands in thanks to the ones before us and our Elders who paved the path for the generations to come.