Photograph of Susan Feller. Courtesy of ATALM.
A message from VoCA Board Member Andrea R. Hanley (Navajo Nation)
The Board and staff of VoCA join me in mourning the devastating loss of our friend and colleague, Susan Feller, as she begins her journey home.
Susan was a beautiful, transformative force. As the founding President/CEO of the Association of Tribal Archives, Libraries, and Museums (ATALM), she built an extraordinary institution rooted in community, relationships, reciprocity, redistribution, and stewardship. VoCA was deeply honored when our proposed Artist Interview Workshop was approved for the ATALM conference in Spokane this September — a program Susan was excited about.
On a personal note, meeting Susan the first year of the conference changed everything for me. She gave me a platform to share cultural work with a broader community of old and new friends and colleagues. Her impact on the Native art and cultural sectors is nothing short of remarkable. I will forever be inspired by her boundless generosity, her welcoming spirit which was extended to my parents, her brilliant mind, and her fierce commitment to all Native people. Susan always led the pack, and recognized vital priorities long before anyone else. She was always the bigger person, and carried herself with such grace.
Susan touched countless lives, actively molding and protecting the future of Native American arts and culture. Her final words to me — “You have been with us since day one. Our loyalties run deep” — will stay with me forever. Those words carry profound weight. Just as Susan was loyal to all of us, VoCA is loyal to her spirit, her vision, and the important mission of ATALM. We look forward to honoring her memory this September by delivering a VoCA Workshop that reflects the excellence she always demanded and inspired.