Tattoo 34 Blog.
Indigenous Peoples Day 2023
This image is my twin sister and I in our ceremonial dresses we made ourselves using the materials and teachings our parents worked to learn with and for us. We were in high school in this picture and now we have and continue to work with our own daughters on their personal prayer items to use in our ceremony. We have that responsibility. We want every generation to grow more than the last, so we can all find our way home.
Social Media is not Indigenous
Social Media is not Indigenous. After being away for our tribal ceremony all summer, getting back on social media is the hardest thing for me to do for our business. The focus when I am home on my Karuk ancestral lands is preparing for and participating in my tribal ceremony. The pace is slower, the work is physical and spiritual. The emphasis is on who we are and what we are doing for ourselves, our children and our people.
NDN Country is small
while she waited and got tattooed we talked and talked and also just sat together, enjoying being in a space with someone whose ancestors knew our own, this far from our homelands, feeling the warmth of knowing and connection. It was a good day to be Indigenous :)
There were no addictions among Tribal people prior to colonization
I am so proud of who I am and where I came from as a Karuk person. I had the privilege of growing up on my land, learning my language and participating in my ceremonies. I had that privilege because colonizer contact with my Tribal people was not until around 1850.
About the author
Nisha Supahan is a wife, mother and business owner. She is an enrolled member of the Karuk Tribe and is from the traditional village of Ameekyaaraam and Katamin. Nisha is active in her culture and teachings and holds a leadership role in her Tribal ceremony that she attends with her family every summer. She grew up on her ancestral land located on the Klamath River in Northern California, until she left for college where she earned her bachelors degree in Communication and a certificate in Native American Studies.
Nisha moved to Portland as an adult to take care of her elderly Grandmother Carmen who was a life long Oregon resident. Carmen passed away at 92 at home with Nisha and her family. Nisha has three children of her own, but has also helped raise 8 others.
Nisha and her husband Toby Linwood own Tattoo 34 on Hawthorne. It is a Indigenous and Black owned tattoo shop in Portland, OR. They are a community minded tattoo shop that believes in their art, culture, youth and the health and wellness of their community. The tattoo shop gives time and dollars to non-profits, youth programs, health programs and organizations that help their local community.
Nisha raises her children, runs the tattoo shop and is involved with the Native business community here in Portland. She is currently on the Site Counsel at McDaniel High School and on the nonprofit board for the Portland Forest School. She has been on the community team as a board member for CenterMom, a solution for preventing postpartum depression and was a founding member for the Equitable Giving Circle in 2020.