Rebecca Nagle's outfit: Forever 21 black Swiss dot dress. Turquoise, black, orange and red beaded medallion earrings, above right, and turquoise and silver ring that were gifts from her sister. Multicolor beaded necklace from the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian. Black over-the-knee socks. Dansko brown and black clogs from The Walking Company. ( Karen Jackson/photos for the Baltimore Sun )
Rebecca Nagle, 30, might not have been wearing her heart on her sleeve at the Sondheim Artscape Prize award ceremony and reception, where she and Hannah Brancato, her co-founder of FORCE: Upsetting Rape Culture, won this year's prize for their “Monument Quilt,” a collection of over 1,000 artistic narratives created by survivors of rape and sexual violence. But the Bolton Hill resident's spirit was very much on display in the outfit she wore that night, in her Native American jewelry and handbag.
Nagle is a member of the Cherokee Nation. For her, that's not just an interesting tidbit about her heritage — it's very much about the present.
“I don't think most Americans understand that Native Americans are still here. ... I'm not just a descendant of the Cherokee Nation. I am part of the existing Cherokee Nation,” she said.
Campaigning for Native American rights is a big part of Nagle's life, and something that has also led to a life of community activism. In addition to FORCE, she founded the No Boundaries Coalition, a resident-led organization that aims to unite a group of West Baltimore neighborhoods.
IT'S ALL CONNECTED: “The ‘[Monument] Quilt' builds community, and I think being part of and being connected to the community is an important part of my life — not just being part of one community, but several.”
THE BAG: “A lot of my native community is in Oklahoma. The bag is a gift from an elder of mine [there] who's a Ponca woman named Grandma Rosetta.”
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