Jul 8, 2018
Dåkot-ta was born in Snohomish Territory and raised in Tscha-kole-chy (within a predominantly diasporic Chamorro community. Their lineage comes from Låguas yan Gåni [Law-gwas zan Gaw-knee) (the archipelago known as the Mariånas Islands, and specifically the largest island known as Guåhan - incorrectly pronounced as Guam by the Western world). Dåkot-ta grew up in the Seattle hip hop underground and social justice movement excercising a life long passion and skill for rap. Attending the University of Wisconsin-Madison as a First Wave Hip Hop Scholar, Dåkot-ta graduated with a degree in Gender and Women's Studies while a concentration in Chamoru Studies meant a year long study abroad at the University of Guåhan. Reconnecting to their ancestral community was a pivotal life change as was beginning participation with I Fanlalai'an Oral History Project, a traditional-styled Chant group specializing in Fino' Håya (a little spoken indigenous form of the language). This opened many pathways for creative potential as a Matao identifying indigenous person, realized in the creation of indigenous contemporary hip hop theatre shows, Buried Beneath: Bombs & Låtte and Guåhu Guåhan. Upon completing a Masters of Performance Studies at Tisch School of the Arts at NYU and joining I Fanalalai'an's Core Research Group Dåkot-ta founded The Matao New Performance Project and premiered FANHASSO at the Festival of the Pacific Arts 2016. Dåkot-ta has also been the primary composer, graphic & web designer, video editor and technician for I Moving Lab - an international, indigenous, intercultural, & interdisciplinary arts collective. Last year, Dåkot-ta released their first full-length album, Nå'lå'la - meaning "give life" - a sonic artistic mission statement - to give life to ancestral knowing to give life to the world.