Michael Cruz Cayuga Nation (Six Nations), Turtle clan
Feb 13, 2016
Michael Cruz
Cayuga Nation (Six Nations), Turtle clan
• Fourth child out of six brothers and sisters• Father: Spanish• Mother: Native American from the Six Nations
reservation, Cayuga, Turtle clan.• Grew up in a bad part of upstate New York, with
drugs and weekly shootings.• Used art and hard work to stay out of trouble• Now lives in a suburban neighborhood in
Spencerport N.Y.• tried everything in art there is, from soap stone
carvings to watercolor, pencil, ink, clay, air brush, acrylics, oils and pastels.
• He experienced his roots spiritually when he visited a powwow called Gathering of Nations
• It was at that powwow where he met original Navajo code talkers and he began painting.
Mother Earth and Father Sky
Sitting Bull
Deer Healer
Eagle Dancer
Project Ideas
• Students think about their surroundings and what has influenced them and their families and make a painting about that.
• Students think about what their people have brought to America and paint that…