The globally conscious and creatively curious Ya Tseen (meaning 'be alive') is a man of many names and even more talents.
The multidisciplinary Indigenous American artist of Tlingit (Klinkit) and Unangax̂ (Oo-nun-gahx) descent can call himself a sculptor, photographer, jeweller, visual artist and musician – when he's not advocating for the environment or tending to his six children with wife and fellow creative Merritt Johnson.Born in Sheet'ka (Sitka, Alaska, pop. 8,500) in 1979, the son of master carver George Benson, Ya Tseen aka Yéil Ya-Tseen (the musical moniker is a nod to his Tlingit name) aka Nicholas Galanin followed in his family's creative footsteps
"My father is an artist and musician. His love for music has been handed down to my brothers and I as if it were a necessity," he told Music Radar.
He received his first guitar at 13 and performed at his first open mic night while studying silversmithing at London Guildhall University. After completing a master's degree in indigenous visual arts at New Zealand's Massey University in 2007, a full-time career in art beckoned.
Under the stage name Silver Jackson and as part of The Black Constellation collective, Galanin released a string of albums, single and EPs. Simultaneously, he showcased his visual work around North America.
"For me, there's power in creating visual art that carries conversations that I don't have to be there personally to uphold every day to the audience," Galanin told The Seattle Times.
Together with friends Otis Calvin III and Zak D. Wass, he formed the band Indian Agent in 2017. "That project [aimed] to bring light to a history [that many people] don't speak or know of, but it's a heavy history."
In 2021, the group, led by Galanin, rebranded as Ya Tseen and joined Sub Pop, the American record label formed in 1986 that signed the then little-known acts Nirvana and Soundgarden. "To have Indigenous artists in the space, I think is incredible and necessary," he told Alaska Public Media.
The album 'Indian Yard', created in collaboration with his Indian Agent bandmates among others, is Ya Tseen's first output under Sub Pop. It's 11 electro-soul-funk tracks explore the human condition from love and connection to revolution and pain. It marks a conscious step away from previous musical identities.
Galanin says this album aimed at "humanising our experiences in life, and that includes love and joy, so many different aspects of where we really come from. We're just not built and based in trauma."
Beyond his musical endeavours, Galanin's visual art – imbued with the themes of cultural reclamation and resistance – transcends traditional boundaries. The New York Times declared his deer hide displaying a map of New York's subway, with sites of police brutality against Black youths highlighted, as one of the most important art moments in 2020.
Closer to home, he presented 'Shadow On The Land' at the 2020 Sydney Biennale: a grave dug around the shadow cast by a statue of Captain Cook.
Galanin still resides in Alaska, where he spends "a great deal of time outdoors, hunting and fishing," he shared with The Guardian.
His idea of success is simple as he shared with Music Radar: "Being able to create daily, working in creative fields on projects and exploring mediums and processes. What a joy."
Ya Tseen plays Melbourne Recital Centre 31 May.
