((Left) Nci Wanami Tamnanaxt – The Big Rivers Story 2021, wool yarn, Jute, copper, smoked elk hide and cut glass beads, currently housed at the Pacific Northwest College of Art. Photo by Thomas Osborne. (Right) Fiber art by Natalie “Nat” Kirk)

Natalie “Nat” Kirk is a contemporary artist and a member of the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs. In 1997 Master Weaver Eraina Palmer taught her to weave while working at The Museum at Warm Springs. Throughout her 25 years at The Museum as the curator and exhibit coordinator, Natalie has taught many eager student, including her daughter who is her current apprentice.

Currently, Natalie works at Tananawit, a nonprofit consignment shop that represents 92 tribal artist, including their sister tribes of Yakima and Umatilla.

Natalie, or “Nat,” works in a variety of media beyond Wapas and baskets. Her works include painting, drawing and creating pieces using a wide range of materials. Her collections and commissions include the Hallie Ford Museum in Salem, Oregon; High Desert Museum collection; Museum of Natural History at the University of Oregon; Autry Museum in Los Angeles, California; the late author Sidney Sheldon collection in Palm Springs, California; Pacific Northwest College of Art in Portland, Oregon; Bend Public Library; Condor Designs (commissioned); The Museum at Warm Springs collections; Kah-Nee-Ta Resort and Spa teepee designs; Tryon Creek State Park; and the North American Bigfoot Museum.

Nat has exhibited at The Museum at Warm Springs Tribal Art Exhibit, earning Judges Choice honors in 2000 and 2025; Art Adventure Gallery in Madras; and the Portland Art Museum’s Art in the Round collaboration with Lillian Pitt and James Lavadour. Her work was also featured in Spirit of Creation at the High Desert Museum, Weaving the Strands at the New Zealand Embassy and Native Innovations, a traveling exhibition showcasing how Oregon’s First Nations have thrived for millennia through technological, cultural and environmental ingenuity.

Nat currently resides in Warm Springs where she creates gif along with heirlooms for family. Her work can be found at the Tananawit shop and gallery and the Museum at Warm Springs.

“Our people are from Nch’I Wana, The Big River or The Columbia River where Celilo Falls once thrived. Our falls were inundated in 1957 and our “Ancient Art”of pictographs and petroglyphs were lost to this event. I draw inspiration from my homelands and I try to keep our ancient art alive through my art.”