Peter Williams is a hunter, artist, and designer based in Sitka, AK where he solely owns and operates a seal and sea otter fur fashion label called Shaman Furs. He is a spokesperson for Alaska Native hunting and fishing rights and for reciprocity between human and animal worlds to ensure both will be around for future generations.

RESIDENCIES & AWARDS

2020     Luce Foundation, New York City, NY (Indigenous knowledge fellow)

2019     First Peoples Fund, Rapid City, SD (cultural capital fellow)

2018 Rasmuson Foundation, Anchorage, AK (individual artist award) 

2018     First Peoples Fund, Rapid City, SD (artist in business leadership fellow)

2017 Institute of American Indian Arts, Santa Fe, NM (artist-in-residence)

2017 Native Peoples Action, Anchorage, AK (project grant for Harvest: Quyurciq)

2017 Anchorage Museum, Anchorage, AK (artist-In-residence)

2016 Sheldon Jackson Museum and Sitka Fine Arts Camp, Sitka, AK (Native artist-in-residence)

2016 Santa Fe Art Institute, Santa Fe, NM (Rasmuson Foundation supported artist-in-residence)

2015 Polar Lab, Anchorage Museum, Anchorage, AK (supported artist)

2015 Leadership Summit, Foraker Group, Anchorage, AK (selected participant)

2015 Protecting Our Ways of Life Lock-In, First Alaskans Institute, Bethel, AK (selected participant)

2014     Salmon Convening, The Salmon Project, Girdwood, AK (selected participant)

2011     Marine Mammal Subsistence Harvest Monitoring Workshop, Indigenous People’s Council for Marine Mammals & National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Anchorage, AK (selected participant)

2010     Marine Mammal Subsistence Harvest Monitoring Workshop, Indigenous People’s Council for Marine Mammals & National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Anchorage, AK (selected participant)

2003 Videomaker Short Video Contest, Chico, CA (DVD Video finalist Life’s Angst Funny)

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2021     (Upcoming) Tradition Innovation, Sheldon Jackson Museum, Sitka, AK 

2021 (Upcoming) Inherent Right, All My Relations Arts, Minneapolis, MN 

2020     Traditions Transitions, Bunnell Street Arts Center, Homer, AK 

2009 New Works, Fisherman’s Eye Gallery, Sitka, AK 

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2022     (Upcoming) Looking Forward to Looking Back: Indigenous Fashion, IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts Santa Fe, NM

2011 100 Artists Exhibition, Ouchi Gallery, Brooklyn, NY

2010 Posted It Show, Ouchi Gallery, Brooklyn, NY

2010 Summer Exhibition, Space 237 Galleries & Studios, Toledo, OH

FIBER ARTS & INDIGENOUS MARKET PRESENTATIONS

2018     Capsule, New York Women’s Accessories, New York, NY (artist / designer)

2017 Fashion Presentation of New Work, Museum of Contemporary Native Arts, Santa Fe, NM (artist / designer)

2017 Santa Fe Indian Market, Southwestern Association For Indian Arts, Santa Fe, NM (artist)

2016 Native Art Market, National Museum of the American Indian, Washington D.C. (artist)

2016 Fashion Week Brooklyn, Brooklyn, NY (artist / designer)

2015 Native Art Market, National Museum of the American Indian, Washington D.C. (artist)

2015 TechStyle, New York City's Fashion Week, NYC, NY (artist / designer)

FILM FESTIVALS

2017     North Beach American Film Festival, Jury Award Nominee, North Beach, MD (Harvest: Quyurciq, co-producer and featured artist) 

2017     Short Circuit: Pacific Rim, Victoria, British Columbia (Harvest: Quyurciq) 

2017     Ethnografilm, Paris, France (Harvest: Quyurciq)

2017     Phoenix Film Festival, Best Documentary Nominee, Phoenix, AZ (Harvest: Quyurciq)

2017 Green Bay Film Festival, Green Bay, WI (Harvest: Quyurciq)

2016     Durango Independent Film Festival, Durango, CO (Harvest: Quyurciq)

2016     Chhatrapati Shivaji International Film Festival, Pune, India (Harvest: Quyurciq)

2016     Lakecity Film Festival, Lagos, Nigeria (Harvest: Quyurciq)

2016 Red Nation Film Festival, Pasadena, CA (Harvest: Quyurciq)

2016 American Indian Film Festival, San Francisco, CA (Harvest: Quyurciq)

2016 Indigenous World Film Festival, Alaska Native Heritage Center, Anchorage, AK (Harvest: Quyurciq)

2015 Anchorage Museum, Anchorage, AK (Harvest: Quyurciq premier) 

RELATED EMPLOYMENT 

2019 Artist Demonstrator, Sitka National Historical Park, Sitka Tribe of Alaska, Sitka, AK

2010 - 2011    Sitka Tribal Tannery, Operations Manager, Sitka Tribe of Alaska, Sitka, AK

TRAINING 

2019 First Peoples Fund Fellowship Convening & Professional Development, Phoenix, AZ

2018 Creative Capital Professional Development Workshop, Anchorage, AK

2018 First Peoples Fund Fellowship Convening & Professional Development, Santa Fe, NM 

1998 Alaska Native Youth Media Institute, Anchorage, AK 

PUBLIC TALKS & WORKSHOPS

2020     Traditions Transitions, Bunnell Street Arts Center, Homer, AK

2020 Subsistence Food & Politics, Bennington College, Bennington, VT

2020 Traditional Food Economy, Bennington College, Bennington, VT

2019 The Traditions of Utilizing Natural Resources, Stanford University, Sitka, AK

2019 Indigenous Others and the Gaze, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA

2019 Fur Pillow Sewing Workshop, Stanford University, Native American Cultural Center, Stanford, CA

2019 Peter Williams Artist Talk, Stanford University, Stanford, CA

2019 Non-Native Government Agencies Regulating Native Art, Stanford University, Stanford, CA

2017 Self Care & Being A Professional Artist, Portfolio, Institute of American Indian Arts, Santa Fe, NM

2017 Proposal Writing, Writing About Art, Institute of American Indian Arts, Santa Fe, NM

2017 Arctic Art & Modern Fashion, Art History, Institute of American Indian Arts, Santa Fe, NM

2017 The Traditions of Utilizing Natural Resources, Stanford University, Sitka, AK

2016 Native American Heritage Month, Pacific High School, Sitka, AK

2016 Fur Hat Sewing Workshop, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Native Art Center, Fairbanks, AK

2016 Interconnection, 516 ARTS, Albuquerque, NM

2015 The Traditions of Utilizing Natural Resources, Stanford University, Sitka, AK

2014 Skin Sewing Demonstration, Sheldon Jackson Museum, Sitka, AK

2013 The Modern Alaska Native Sea Otter Fur Trade, Yale University, New Haven, CT

2013 The Modern Alaska Native Sea Otter Fur Trade, Bard College, Red Hook, NY

2013 The Modern Alaska Native Sea Otter Fur Trade, Sterling College, Craftsbury Common, VT

2013 The Skin We're In, Alaska State Museum, Juneau, AK

2013 Skin Sewing Demonstration, Sheldon Jackson Museum, Sitka, AK

2013 Subsistence: Spiritual and Sustainable Economics, Sheldon Jackson Museum, Sitka, AK

2013 The Modern Alaska Native Sea Otter Fur Trade, Alaska State Museum, Juneau, AK

2013 Skin Sewing Demonstration, Alaska State Museum, Juneau, AK

2013 The Modern Alaska Native Sea Otter Fur Trade, University of Portland, Portland, OR

2013 The Modern Alaska Native Sea Otter Fur Trade, Portland Art Museum, Portland, OR

2012 - 2013 Skin Sewing Demonstration, Southeast Alaska Indian Cultural Center, Sitka, AK

2012 The Modern Alaska Native Sea Otter Fur Trade, Sheldon Jackson Museum, Sitka, AK

2012 Skin Sewing Demonstration, Sheldon Jackson Museum, Sitka, AK

2012 Sea Otter Hat Sewing and Sea Otter Skinning Class for Native Youth, sponsored by Alaska Men       Choose Respect and Sitka Native Education Program, Southeast Alaska Indian Culture Center, Sitka, AK

COLLECTIONS

The Anchorage Museum, Anchorage, AK

The Peary-MacMillan Arctic Museum, Brunswick, ME

The Sitka History Museum, Sitka, AK

PRESS

“Fighting For His Art Yup’ik artist uses sea otter and seal hides to create wearable fashion pieces” by Alexander Deedy, Alaska Magazine, November Issue 2019   

“With Reconciliation Day, Sitkans call for a reexamining of Alaska Day traditions” by Meredith Redick, KCAW, October 18, 2019

“Close to Home: Sitka's otter man” by David Campiche, Coast Weekend, September 11, 2019

“10,000 Steps with the Russian Ambassador” by Klas Stolpe, Daily Sitka Sentinel, June, 2019

“Significantly Altered” by Todd McLeish, Return Of The Sea Otter, Sasquatch Books, 2018

“Nukes, Aquaria, Cuteness” by Richard Ravalli, Sea Otters, University of Nebraska Press, 2018

“Connecting High Fashion and Tradition,” by Leona Long, First Alaskans Magazine, Winter Issue 2016 - 2017

“Is All Fur Bad Fur?” by Vanessa Friedman, The New York Times, December 1, 2016

“Culture and Communities” Alaska’s Native Voice Radio Series, by Antonia Gonzales,  National Native News, October 27, 2016

“Yup'ik hunter shares insights on sea otter hunting in new documentary,” by Suzanna Caldwell, Alaska Dispatch News, October 9, 2015

“Why Would Anyone Want To Shoot A Sea Otter,” by Ross Perlin, The Guardian, World News, March 10, 2015