Coast to Coast is dedicated to and inspired by the legendary Karuk artist and activist Brian D. Tripp (BDT). It is titled Coast to Coast because it brings together visual elements and historical texts from the western coast tribes and nations of the Aztec, Karuk, Yurok, and Ramaytush Ohlone, with those from the Lenape nation on the east coast (it also includes a vital reference to the Oglala Lakota). Thus, it bridges Turtle Island. The book is filled with rubbings, which were made by placing a sheet of paper on a matrix (such as a plaque, a tree, some floorboards- indeed on the surface of almost any object) and vigorously rubbing a wax cake or piece of graphite against the surface so the wax melts on and into the paper. On the other side of the paper, small and microscopic amounts of materials from the geographic location become embedded. The paper becomes both a visual record and a field sample of the area.

An ink drawing by Tyler Conrad (Karuk) graces page 8. Various inks and turmeric pigment were used in making the book.
The book was designed by Marshall Weber and bound by Sophia Kramer.

Rubbing Matrix Sources:

Matrix A – On Wiyot/Yurok territory, now referred to as McKinleyville, California, rubbings were made from objects in the home of Sonny Tripp, BDT’s nephew. Sonny and his family honored ‘Uncle’ BDT by taking him into their home for almost two years and providing a loving place for BDT’s hospice care and later his transition to the next place. Rubbings of the Yurok Pride ceramic piece and the famous Yoda quote stone are featured on page one. A model of the brain (which belongs to Sonny’s son, Emya Tripp, a medical and biology scholar) is found on pages 3 and 14. The Aztec Sun (calendar) Stones are found on pages 6 and 8 and 9. An extended bottle of Corralejo Tequila (imbibed in spectacular quantities during BDT’s unique home hospice) is found on final page 16. All were rubbed at Sonny’s apartment. Yo-Twa, Yo-Twa Sonny and Emya!

Matrix B – Lenapehoking / Manhattan, New York, Foley Square, rubbings from a large bronze historical plaque, near the Supreme Court building of NYC, features text describing the surrounding territory and imagery of local flora and fauna. Found on pages 1, 2, 3,4, 5, 10, 11, and 12.

Matrix C – The large Rammaytush plaque on Albion Alley near Camp Street in San Francisco, this plaque is on the site of the first Spanish Mission in San Francisco, an epicenter of the Spanish’s attempted genocide of the Native peoples in what they called California. Elements of this plaque can be found on pages 3, 4, 6, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14,16

Matrix D – La Jolla Cove. A lifeguard phone box at La Jolla cove which is covered in bronze relief words describing the surrounding area and surf culture and is a memorial ‘poem’ to bodysurfer David C Freeman, who drowned there as a young man. Found on pages 7 and 8.

Matrix E – There is a small bronze plaque at La Jolla Cove, tucked away on the cliff wall near a bench with no attribution to the author, Crazy Horse (in Lakota: Tȟašúŋke Witkó), the great leader and mystic of the Oglala band of the Lakota. It says, “Treat the earth well: it was not given to you by your parents, it was loaned to you by your children.”. This appears three times on page 15.