Connecting Topeka's past and present through art
TOPEKA (KSNT) - Through her dedication to showcasing the arts, history and culture of Native Americans throughout her hometown of Topeka, Lisa LaRue-Baker truly exemplifies what it means to be a remarkable woman.
“Everything in the Native culture revolves around art," LaRue-Baker said. "Art is the center of everything. It’s how we teach our stories, it’s how we teach our traditions, so everything we do is involved in art.”
Lisa has a unique connection and reason for showcasing the art and history of her two communities, Topeka and Native American.
“I’m a Cherokee tribal member and I worked for the tribe for many years," she said. "I was director of language history and culture, and director of the museum, so I worked on a lot of historical kind of programs before that implement language and art.”
LaRue-Baker continues upholding that important work throughout Topeka, from art exhibits to education programs, to ceremonies reconnecting Native Americans to their ancestral land and beyond.
“All of the work I do on behalf of Native Americans and in honor of my people and the other tribes is all a part of a Cherokee concept called Gadugi," LaRue-Baker said. "That is a way that we’re taught as Cherokees that everything we do is for everyone. It’s for the community, it’s not for yourself.”
One program she leads right in the Capital City encompasses a yearly community land acknowledgement project.
“The DoPiKa Project, do-pika, doe-pi-kay is how it's really pronounced in Kaw, is the Kaw phrase that the name Topeka comes from, and it literally means a good place to dig potatoes," LaRue-Baker said. "That right there gets people wondering about the history of Topeka. It’s a project I have no board of directors, I’m not a not-for-profit it’s just me coordinating a whole bunch of people that want to be a part of this.”
For her, giving people the knowledge and tools to understand more about the world around them is vital.
“It’s very important to learn about all of the people that you live around, and all of the history that you live around so you can make good decisions and respect all of these things, because respect is really what everything boils down to.”
Being that bridge between past and present is a responsibility Lisa is quite honored to hold.
”My little mantra for this is that we’re all remarkable women," LaRue-Baker said, "it’s just that some of us are louder than others. I have the voice for all the native women, Julie Gonville that this was her allotment we’re sitting on, she has no voice anymore so I try to be her voice and all the other native women that took care of this place and who have raised the families, who were leaders themselves, and who are still here today.”
If you'd like to learn more from Lisa, and see some of the incredible Native American art firsthand, you can visit her NOTO gallery, studio, and classroom at 785 Arts.