Author: riki

Rachelle H. (Riki) Saltzman, Ph.D., is a Lecturer in the University of Oregon’s Folklore & Public Culture program and a Fellow of the American Folklore Society. From 2012-2022, she served as OFN’s Executive Director and continued as a consultant for special projects through 2022. From 2020-22, she was also the staff folklorist for Bend, Oregon’s High Desert Museum where she conducted ethnographic fieldwork, coordinated public programs, and collaborated on a documentary short with indigenous food gatherers “First Foods: Roots and Berries with Warm Springs Traditional Gatherers” https://highdesertmuseum.org/food-sovereignty-educator-resource/. At OFN, she worked with communities, Tribes, and individuals to develop collaborative partnerships involving folk arts and artists. She oversaw the World Learning sponsored and US Dept of State funded international culture exchange project, Exploring Indigeneity, Place, Traditions, and Transmission; development of Oregon’s Culture Keepers Roster; coordination of Oregon Folk Arts in the Parks and a Folk Arts series at the High Desert Museum; and development of staff folklorist positions at 2 Oregon museums. She continues to mentor students and teach classes for UO’s Folklore and Public Culture program. Saltzman has served on Travel Oregon’s AgriTourism Leadership Working Group, the Century Farm and Ranch Board, and on the Oregon Encyclopedia Board. From 1995-2012, Saltzman was the Folklife Coordinator for the Iowa Arts Council, where she developed award-winning, online folklife curricula and co-produced Iowa Roots with Iowa Public Radio. Since 1982, Saltzman has worked at private non-profit and state agencies in 9 states to direct public programs, organize conferences, curate exhibits, and conduct research. She has been awarded grants from federal, state, and non-profit organizations. Saltzman, who obtained her Ph.D. in Anthropology (Folklore) from the University of Texas at Austin, has written numerous public folklore publications as well as peer-reviewed articles in professional journals and books. A Fellow of the American Folklore Society, she has served on the executive boards of the American Folklore Society and the Association for the Study of Food & Society. She is the author of A Lark for the Sake of Their Country: the 1926 General Strike volunteers in folklore and memory (2012, Manchester University Press), recipient of the 2012 Wayland D. Hand Prize (American Folklore Society) for Outstanding Book in Folklore and History. She is also the editor of Pussy Hats, Politics, and Public Protest (2020, University Press of Mississippi), recipient of the 2021 Elli Köngäs-Maranda Prize (American Folklore Society) for superior work on women’s traditional, vernacular, or local culture and/or feminist theory and folklore. Her most recent article, "Hey Folklorists!" FisherPoets and Public Folklorists—Practicing Partnership, appears in the Journal of Folklore and Education.