Ayuthea LaPier

Born in the territory of their Mother, Coos Bay, OR; Ayuthea LaPier works in the company of their community to rematriate fire to land. Their career in fire has grown from an upbringing in their family’s Hanis Coos and fire-dependent cultural practices. As an intergenerational weaver, LaPier recognizes the imperative need for good fire and climate justice to protect the coming generations of weavers.

Having passed their Tetsewisiiye (puberty ceremony) in 2015, they now wear the skin- stitched xam (tattoo) marks they earned on their hands. LaPier continually seeks new ways to tell stories, while stitched into a very old fabric and knowledge.

LaPier’s work has served their community through teaching beadwork and producing illustrations, further defining Hanis Coos cultural continuity and identity. They have instructed classes for local community members with the goal to diversify the skills of learners and increase access to regalia, understanding this as a right for all Indigenous people.

In 2022, LaPier received funding from Na’ah Illahee Fund and Potlatch Fund to further the learning, community, and presence of the regalia belonging to women and non-men: maple bark skirts. LaPier is a 2024 recipient of the LIFT award from the Native Arts and Culture Foundation.

Currently, LaPier is working with a group of Coos, Quiich, and Siuslaw women to create a replica of a repatriated Miluk Coos dress, made in the early 1900’s. Their goal is to record the techniques used by Coos people during that period.