Nichole Vasquez-Sutter is an artist and an author, living with her husband and two young children in Northern California. Her family is Payómkawiichum, from the Pechanga Band in Southern California.

Born and raised in the Inland Empire of Southern California, Nichole spent her weekends and summers with her dad’s family on their tribe’s reservation and participated in the tribal youth summer programs, where she began her formal education in the Luiseño language. In 2013, she and her husband fell in love with Humboldt County and moved up North to attend the local university while raising their family as guests of the Wiyot and Yurok land and culture.

While working on her bachelor’s degree in Philosophy from Humboldt State University, she minored in Native American Studies and Studio Art, fusing her studies in Western and Indigenous philosophies concerning ethics, political philosophy, and Luiseño metaphysics. In 2020 she established Holy Qéengish as a business and began attending the Sol Price School of Public Policy to earn her Master’s degree in Public Administration at the University of Southern California.

She is currently serving as an alternate delegate representing her tribe on the Riverside-San Bernardino County Indian Health Board and works in the administrative department at the United Indian Health Services in Arcata, CA. In 2022 her children’s book “Polóovi Temét was published by the Great Oak Press, and in her free time, she attends tribal events to perform public readings.

Academia:

• M.A. Public Administration - University Southern California (2024)

• B.A. Philosophy - Humboldt State University (2018)

• A.A. Fine & Studio Arts - Riverside City College (2013)

• A.A. Humanities, Philosophy, and Arts - Riverside City College (2013)

• A.S. Social & Behavioral Sciences - Riverside City College (2013)