‘Uba Seo: Nisenan Arts and Culture is a gallery and culture center that brings visibility to the Nevada City Rancheria Nisenan Tribe in their Ancestral Homelands.
‘Uba Seo Gallery brings visibility to the history and Culture of the Nisenan Tribe who for thousands of years made their home here in their Ancestral Homelands. Exhibit curators Shelly Covert and Mira Clark use art to create community conversations that are thought-provoking and educational. Since opening its doors in the Spring of 2021, ‘Uba Seo has created rich opportunities for visibility, advocacy, healing, and community education. The unprecedented social space created by the gallery is a collaborative, creative, and educational arts and culture center curated through Nisenan perspectives and voices.
‘Uba Seo is one of the many relevant and groundbreaking projects presented by The California Heritage: Indigenous Research Project or CHIRP. CHIRP was created to support the Tribe's cultural revitalization and Federal Recognition restoration efforts. CHIRP's mission: to Preserve, Protect, and Perpetuate Nisenan Culture. CHIRP develops and implements projects that advance this mission for the good of the Nisenan people and their Culture while providing important education to the larger non-native community.
Our exhibits are designed to be immersive and highlight Indigenous history. We believe that art should be accessible to everyone, and we provide these exhibits at no cost to the public. Our shows typically run for six to twelve months. We offer long-running exhibits that allow visitors to come back as many times as needed to absorb the important educational content we provide.
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Since Opening in May 2021, the gallery has curated and produced six distinct exhibits. The shows are created with specific visions, components, and intentions that align with the Tribe’s desire and need to be seen or “un-erased.”
‘Uba Seo represents a bold invitation to re-examine the way we view the gold rush and gold country. To re-teach history from the Nisenan’s Indigenous perspective. Our exhibits explore the questions of Indigenous erasure, genocide, and the lasting effects of colonization upon contemporary Nisenan people. Nevada County is one of the major epicenters of Indigenous genocide in California. These topics can be challenging for the public to engage with, however, ‘Uba Seo’s intention is to use art to reach people who would not normally be interested in understanding or having difficult conversations about colonization or genocide. Our hope is through this work we can start to envision a better, more equitable, and inclusive community.
Previous Exhibitions
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hamukum: Whispers Through Time 2023
Utilizing art, imagery, historic photographs, documents and interactive elements, this exhibit explores pivotal moments in history from the Nisenan perspective. In locations like Nevada County, an epicenter of gold rush destruction and Native genocide, recorded history is told solely from the settler perspective. Exclusion of the Indigenous narrative from written and historic records intensifies their alienation and erasure. Previously unheard... Whispers through time are shared within this exhibit.
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Visibility Through Art 2022
In CHIRP’s VTA 2022 Artists were asked to work on a theme that explores the erasure of Nisenan Culture and history. Artists and Tribal Members were asked to focus on a specific aspect of Nisenan existence that has been impacted by erasure. We are invited to consider: the impact of settler colonialism through the generations, of the gold rush, the boarding schools, of the laws and systems that erased and continue to eradicate Nisenan heritage.
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Erased 2021
Erased, was structured as a “timeline and history of legislative and legal erasure.” This exhibit was much more informative about the Nisenan and content-driven than previous exhibits the gallery produced in 2021. Erased constituted the first time that local history has been publicly reviewed and discussed from a Nisenan perspective in Nevada City, this Exhibition offers a place for dialogue around Nisenan history.
“In the wake of colonial violence which persecuted Nisenan people for practicing their culture and expressing their voices, it is absolutely imperative that the ‘Uba Seo gallery is directed creatively and aesthetically by Nisenan individuals and perspectives.”
— Shelly Covert, Executive director of CHIRP and Spokesperson for Nevada City Rancheria