Artist Statement
Chintah Mah,
My name is Meyo Marrufo, and I am Eastern Pomo from the Clear Lake Basin. I am a tribal member of the Robinson Rancheria Band of Pomo Indians, one of seven federally recognized Lake Pomo tribes. Our homeland surrounds California’s largest natural freshwater lake, once home to more than 30 thriving villages sustained by its abundant resources. Pomo country extends beyond the lake to the Ukiah Valley and the north-central coastline, where over 20 Pomo tribes reside, speaking seven different dialects of our language.
My artwork is a continuation of this storytelling. My digital drawings, which I call finger doodles, incorporate basket patterns, traditional dances, and scenes of Pomo life. Each basket pattern carries meaning, reflecting the land, the animals, and the stories of our ancestors. Just as colors shift the tone of a basket’s message, my art weaves together elements of the past and present, preserving and sharing our cultural language.
Continuing Tribal Knowledge
In addition to my environmental work, I am committed to teaching and sharing our cultural knowledge. When I came of age, I began my journey into Pomo regalia making and traditional food processing—learning these practices from the ground up. As I deepened my understanding, I felt a responsibility to pass this knowledge on, teaching classes on cultural arts, regalia making, and traditional foods across Northern California.
My artwork is a continuation of this storytelling. My digital drawings, which I call finger doodles, incorporate basket patterns, traditional dances, and scenes of Pomo life. Each basket pattern carries meaning, reflecting the land, the animals, and the stories of our ancestors. Just as colors shift the tone of a basket’s message, my art weaves together elements of the past and present, preserving and sharing our cultural language.
Curating and Representing Indigenous Voices
Beyond my own artwork, I work to uplift Indigenous artists and stories through curation. I have co-curated exhibitions such as After the Burn, which explores fire as a traditional land management tool, and Birds of a Feather, a show that highlights Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) as a living practice.
As a guest curator for the de Young Museum’s Jules Tavernier and the Elem Pomo exhibit, I helped present a more complete narrative of Pomo history, ensuring that our voices were central to the storytelling. Most recently, I co-curated We Are Still Here at the Mendocino Art Center, showcasing the continued resilience and artistry of Pomo people across our homelands.
Knowledge is of the Land
Everything I know as a tribal person begins and ends with the land I come from.
I am a weaver—the ones who taught me showed me how to listen to the land. When the leaves bud, it is time to gather peeled sticks. When the streams dry early, I must work quickly. When the snakes come, it is time to stop digging roots and let the plants rest. Our basket designs come from the land—mountain ridges, quail topknots, animal tracks left in the earth.
I am a singer—our songs and dances mirror the movements of our animal relatives. Like a deer, we step with awareness, heads turning to take in the land. Our women move like the flowers of our Mother Earth. Our songs are gifts from the land and offerings to it in return. We sing for protection, for gratitude, for the knowledge to survive.
I am a mother—when my children were born, my family introduced them to our tribe through walking and singing, welcoming them not only to the people but to the land itself. This land will teach them, just as it taught me. Someday, it will be their responsibility to care for it.
Knowledge is of the land.
Contact Meyo
Interested in working together? Message me directly.