Nicholas Galanin (pronounced gah-LANN-in) is a Sitka Tribe of Alaska multi-disciplinary artist and musician of Tlingit and Unangax̂ descent.

When he was discovered drawing Tlingit art, on a slow day at the park, he was informed that he was only allowed to read Russian history books during working hours.

Galanin's entry, entitled Tsu Heidei Shugaxtutaan, is a two-part looping video of dance and music that mixes elements of traditional Tlingit and hip hop.

[11] In 2012, this work was featured in "Shapeshifting: Transformations in Native American Art", an exhibit hosted by the Peabody Essex Museum of Salem, Massachusetts.

The fusion of this work reminds viewers of the period when ceremonial Native masks were considered worthless, but fine porcelain was a valuable commodity.

The right half of the photo-montage depicts Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia from the 1977 film Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope with her classic "cinnamon roll"[broken anchor] hair style.

[17] Galanin's work is intended as a "commentary on cultural appropriation in popular media", which is largely dominated by white actors and directors.

[17][18] Edward S. Curtis was an ethnographer, who sought to photograph and record, on wax cylinders, and in written notes, "the mode of life of one of the great races of mankind, [which] must be collected at once or the opportunity will be lost."

"[21] Although Galanin was uncertain if the Star Wars character's likeness to the Hopi-Tewa woman was deliberate or unintentional, he felt that "the influence was implied".

[22] "I challenge those who view or listen to my work to consider that Indigenous people are not contained by colonial mechanisms designed to erase our existence through continually narrowing categories of Indian-ness".

With bullets for claws and gold teeth in its mouth, it was one of many pieces that contrasted the native and non-native perspective on the American dream.

[5][16] The piece is one of three pairs that will never be displayed together, as a symbolic way of demonstrating how Indigenous families were torn apart and separated by the American boarding school system.

[39] The 2018 monotype series, Everything We’ve Ever Been, Everything We Are Right Now, previously shown at the 2019 Twin Cities Zine Fest,[40] consisted of seven pieces and is "a reference to an ancestral entrance dance where the face is revealed, not masked".

[41] Also, in 2018, Galanin mounted a solo exhibit at Peter Blum Gallery, Carry a Song / Disrupt an Anthem, which featuring six major works, which explore how Indigenous identity is subverted by American culture.

The exhibit focuses on "unresolved past anxieties and hidden layers of the supernatural," and presents the work of the Indigenous and diaspora communities that are not normally at the center of the art world.

[45] Galanin advocates for the removal of statues which venerate colonial settlers, because he believes they represent a white supremacist and violent ideology.

[48] There has been a larger movement, specifically in Alaska, that has called for the removal of statues of colonial figures such as Captain Cook, William Seward, and Alexander Baranov.

[50] Nicholas Galanin began his solo project under the stage name Silver Jackson, and is part of a collective called The Black Constellation.

In 2014, Silver Jackson released two promotional singles; "Perfect Mistake"[52] and "You and I Should Try Again" followed by the studio album, Starry Skies Open Eyes.

[4] In 2017, Galanin formed a band with Otis Calvin III and Zak Dylan Wass called Indian Agent.

[59] In 2019, Galanin was one of the seventy-five artists that were selected to present work in the Seventy-Ninth Whitney Museum of American Art Biennial.

[60][61] Selection by Whitney denotes an artist who is at the "forefront of American contemporary art" and provides them with valuable market exposure and important recognition.

[62] They protested against the presence of the Whitney Board of Trustees vice chair Warren Kanders, who owns the tear-gas producing company Safariland.

[63][64][65][66] White Noise, American Prayer Rug,[67] and Let Them Enter Dancing and Showing Their Faces — Shaman, were submitted by Galanin.