Indigenous Open Mic Night with Tanaya Winder

Kicking off the fall semester of 2025, the Labriola National American Indian Data Center is hosting our biannual Indigenous Open Mic Night with Tanaya Winder!

Tanaya Winder is an author, singer-songwriter, poet and motivational speaker. She is an enrolled citizen of the Duckwater Shoshone Nation and comes from an intertribal lineage of Southern Ute, Pyramid Lake Paiute, Navajo, and Black heritages. Winder earned a Bachelor of Arts in English from Stanford University and a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing from the University of New Mexico. Winder’s poetry collections include "Words Like Love" and "Why Storms Are Named After People and Bullets Remain Nameless." Her performances and talks combine storytelling, singing, and spoken word to explore various expressions of love and the concept of “heartwork.” Tanaya specializes in youth and women empowerment, healing trauma through art, creative writing workshops, and mental wellness advocacy. You can learn more about her work at: www.tanayawinder.com and www.coachingheartwork.com.

This Open Mic is based on themes of "heartwork", as defined by Tanaya as "a transformation beyond spiritual scars…[that] brings us back to that original breath of life and light of spirit."

We welcome volunteers to read between featured poets and share original work. Community members are welcome to participate, whether their participation be a support for new and returning readers and performers or being a new or returning reader or performer. We look forward to hearing your stories and sharing space as an opening for a beautiful new semester!