Dancers Umi IMAN and Khadijah Siferllah-Griffin of Al Taw’am will soon present the inaugural Atlanta Afroindigenous Peoples Festival. (Photo by Awa Mally, courtesy Walker Art Center, Minenapolis)
Sisters Umi Faith and Khadijah Siferllah have been dancing together since they can remember. The two comprise Al Taw’aman Emmy-nominated dance ensemble, and use the medium of dance to connect with and honor their roots as Black, Tsalagi Native American, Jamaican and Muslim women.
IMAN and Siferllah were born and raised in Minneapolis but have since relocated across the country. IMAN now calls Atlanta home, while Siferllah hails from New York City. The sisters co-founded Sequoia Ascension in 2021, intending to offer housing, dance and wellness offerings that open opportunities for Black, Native American and Afroindigenous people in Atlanta to find a sense of belonging and joy.
Growing up around the Anishinaabe people in Minneapolis, IMAN says she “felt the resonance” with their culture and traditions. They grew up in a particularly artistic household. Both of their parents loved music and their mother was a dancer. “It was just bound to happen that it would rub off on us,” said IMAN.
While their home was filled with dance and music, dance is a less prevalent aspect of Muslim culture. “We just kind of turned that into motivation to really study Black dance at home,” said IMAN. Later, the two joined the global sensation We’re Muslim, Don’t Panic movement led by Amirah Sackett. “That was the first time ever that many folks saw Muslim women dancing on a public platform,” she recalled.
Over the years, they have mastered many Black and Indigenous dance practices, including hip-hop, poppin’, waving, house dance, waacking, Traditional West African dance, jingle dress and fancy shawl. In bringing together the disparate origins of their family tree through the shared medium of dance, they have found a sense of belonging that harmonizes not only the movements of these cultures but also their identities within them.
The inaugural Atlanta Afroindigenous Peoples Festival will take place on June 14 and June 15. (Image provided by Sequoia Ascension)
“We did not see ourselves in the media before us,” explained IMAN. “In that is a lot of responsibility but also a lot of joy.” They take this responsibility seriously and understand that they are paving new paths forward for others to follow in their footsteps.
Sequoia Ascension will present the inaugural Atlanta Afroindigenous Peoples Festival (AAPF) June 14 and June 15. This weekend-long celebration of culture and community has been in the works for several years, and IMAN and Siferllah shared their excitement over seeing the Festival come to life.
“The Afroindigenous Peoples Festival . . . it’s so important,” said Siferllah. “This is a dream that we have had for years, and it’s finally coming together.”
Historically, Afroindigenous people have often been excluded from both sides of their heritage. Anti-Blackness and colorism within indigenous communities have made access to culture and traditions difficult — if not impossible — for most. Over the generations, many Native American tribes had close relationships with African Americans, some positive and others negative.
While some Native American communities came under fire for assisting escaped African Americans as part of the Underground Railroad in the late 18th century, others held enslaved African Americans themselves during the Civil War. And, yes, this was even while Native Americans were also enslaved by colonists.
Years later, following the abolition of slavery, the United States signed new treaties with the Five Civilized Tribes which required the tribes to liberate any enslaved African Americans, thereafter known as freedmen. In some Native American communities, freedmen and indigenous peoples coexisted, intermarried and formed new lineages with powerful connections to multiple cultures.
For others, such as the Seminole and the Cherokee, membership rules were designed to be more restrictive. Racist policies such as the one-drop rule, in accordance with blood quantum laws, insisted that any person with even “one drop’ of African American blood could not be a member of certain tribes.
Unfortunately, stigma around biracial people continues within American society today, and many Afroindigenous people may feel they simply don’t belong in any camp; they’re too Black to be Native and too Native to be Black. It is precisely this conflicting position that the Sequoia Ascension sisters aim to eradicate. They do this through the AAPF, which will present engaging workshops, activations, education and of course, the love of dance. One day, they hope to bring an iteration of this festival to New York City.
Umi IMAN dancing at a powwow. (Photo by Paige Mitchell)
“I just really wanted to create the space for these Afroindigenous folks to feel at ease when experiencing culture,” said IMAN. “There is a lot to be said about how pain and trauma and disappointment is always a part of Afroindigenous folks’ stories when trying to connect with the community. We want to say that it doesn’t have to be part of the story.”
The weekend’s festivities kick off with a Duality: A Collection of Afro Indigenous Perspectives film screening and conversation; Fancy Shawl & House Workshop; and Gullah Geechee Sweetgrass Basket Workshop at the Auburn Avenue Research Library on Saturday, all of which are already sold out.
That evening, the Powwows & Ciphers: A Sacred Place To Be performance at Moving In The Spirit will showcase a collection of award-winning and outstanding Black, indigenous and Afroindigenous ensembles and artists. On Sunday, the AAPF will present an Afroindigenous powwow featuring Grammy-nominated Afroindigenous musician Mumu Fresh at the West Atlanta Watershed Alliance from noon to 4 p.m. The weekend’s lineup includes performances by the Lyrric Jackson Dance Company, Wontanara percussion, Lady cow, Jamaal-Isaac Jones, Lashay and the Butterfly Effect Dance Group, as well as Al Taw’am, Featuring Umi Iman and Khadijah SIFIFLAH THEMSELVES.
“The Festival has been a lot of work. As someone who is part of many underserved communities, garnering resources and specifically the financial means to pull off something of this magnitude is like pulling teeth,” said Siferllah. “It’s really challenging to be a Native of deeper skin complexion, who is darker, and to have to fight for resources and also fight to be believed that I am authentic; I am real.”
The Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta provided essential grant funding that has enabled Sequoia Ascension to put on the Powwows & Ciphers event on Saturday night. The Festival is also supported by Yaya Rose, Festival organizer and Afroindigenous powwow program manager, and social media and public relations consultant Charlie Mitchell.
“(Dance) continues to be something that bonds me to those people,” said Siferllah, referring to her ancestors, family and community. “I see it as a portal; it’s a time traveling portal. It’s a way for me to experience the past, experience the rhythms and the movement, the ways that people moved before me, and it’s also a way to preserve the culture for the future for the people that come after me. In a way, dance is like a responsibility but one that I’m proud to maintain and carry. It’s a way for me to bond with family and community, and, most importantly, myself. Dance has boosted my sense of self-esteem and self-love.”
To learn more about the Atlanta Afroindigenous Peoples Festival, visit the Sequoia Ascension website. The festival will take place on Saturday, June 14 and Sunday, June 15. In honor of Pride, they are also offering a special promo code for the Powwows & Ciphers event on Saturday night: IndigiQueer gets you $15 tickets to the performance.
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Isadora Pennington is senior editor of art + design and dance. An experienced writer and photographer with a deep love for the arts, Isadora founded the Sketchbook newsletter with Rough Draft Atlanta in 2022. She is also president of the Avondale Arts Alliance and director of the Avondale Arts Center.
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