Storytellers Bios

Judy BlueHorse Skelton

Judy BlueHorse Skelton, (Nez Perce/Cherokee), Associate Professor, Indigenous Nations Studies at Portland State University, developed and teaches courses in the Indigenous Traditional Ecological and Cultural Knowledge (ITECK) Certificate Program, including Indigenous Ecological Healing Practices, Indigenous Leadership for Sustainable Futures, Cultural Ecology: Indigenous Science, and Indigenous Gardens and Food Justice. She’s worked with federal, state and local governments, Native organizations and tribes throughout the Northwest for more than 25 years, conducting cultural activities and research to reclaim the urban forest for food, medicine, ceremony, and healthy lifeways.

Collaborative work includes the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians, the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, the Native American Rehabilitation Association, the Many Nations Academy at the Native American Youth and Family Services, and other Native organizations in the Northwest.

Judy serves on the Native American Community Advisory Council, partnering with Portland Parks, Metro, the Bureau of Environmental Services and US Fish and Wildlife Service to integrate ITECK practices with Indigenous community and student-centered projects on urban/regional sites. Through these relationships, Judy has fostered the creation of a unique space for teaching and practicing ITECK at PSU with the Oak Savanna ITECK Center, engaging students, partners and Indigenous community in collaborative projects—providing them with real-world experiences that can be life changing, to heal the Land and heal the People.

Emma Johnson

Emma Johnson, a Cowlitz Tribal member, received her BA in Cultural Anthropology from Washington State University Vancouver and her MS in Sociocultural Anthropology at Portland State University (PSU). Emma is currently the Indigenous Traditional Ecological and Cultural Knowledge (ITECK) Coordinator in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Dean’s Office at PSU. In this role, she focuses on community engagement, partnership development, and cultivating a sense of belonging for students. Emma is extremely passionate about place-based education and connecting people to the landscape by introducing them to plant and animal relatives. She feels at home in the world of tribal food sovereignty and strives to support the reclamation and restoration of traditional foodways in Indian Country.

Mendy Miller

Mendy Miller has worked with Portland State University (PSU) since being a student worker in the School of Gender, Race & Nations in 2019 and currently works with the Indigenous Nations Studies Department’s Indigenous Traditional Ecological and Cultural (ITECK) Program as ITECK Community Partner building and tending relationships with students, community and alum on and off campus. Mendy is also pursuing a Master of Library and Information Science with the University of Washington. They have been consulting and collaborating with students and community since 2020 in order to create what is now the Indigenous Library in the Vernier Science Center at PSU and a future land based library on the PSU Oak Savanna. Mendy is also a PSU alum with a BA in Indigenous Nations and Native American Studies and a minor in Geography. They are deeply committed to creating a better future for all by centering relationships to land and each other.

Athena Rilatos

Athena Rilatos is an enrolled member of the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians and recently received her Master of Architecture degree at Portland State University. She received her BS in Psychology with a minor in Indigenous Nations Studies from Portland State University. She has worked on the Oak Savanna Project since 2020.

Clifton Bruno and Christine Bruno

A special thank you to Clifton Bruno and Christine Bruno for their participation in this series and for sharing with us their oral stories and experiences at the Oak Savanna and ITECK Center.

Emma Jewell Cohen

A special thank you to Emma Jewell Cohen for their participation in this series and for sharing with us their oral stories and experiences at the Oak Savanna and ITECK Center.