Muhammed Sonny Mercan
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Muhammed Sonny Mercan, (b. February 16, 1966 in the Balkans), is a Turkic activist and active supporter of indigenous cultures in Siberia and the Americas. He also supports the protection of wildlife and the environment in the same regions. He has owned the Miighan-Kurt company since 2001. He also runs the website SNTC News and Views from the Native World. Due to his work, indigenous people from various parts of the world were able to find out about each other and establish contacts. An example of that is the contact established between Shaman Akkanat from the Sibirga ethnic group in western Siberia and George Henry, an Ojibway elder from Chippewa of the Thames,ON Ref.1. Their exchange of information played an important part in organizing better work conditions for indigenous western Siberian artists Ref.2 .
Sonny has created art inspired by his indigenous Turkic ancestry and culture. His artwork has made its way to a number of galleries and private collections in Australia (private collection of Toni DeLandellas, Broadmeadows, VIC) Canada, Denmark (Artdanish.dk/Folk_Art), New Zealand (private collection of Shirley Dali, Rotorua, Aotearoa), Peru (private collection of Luis Antonio Vasquez Coronel, Nuevo Chimbote, Peru) Turkey(private collection of Mustafa Tasbas, Gaziantep, Turkey), Russia (private collection of Akhat Maneshev, Novokuznetsk, Siberia Ref.), and the US.
Since 2001, Sonny has made efforts to have Turtle Island acknowledged as a term for North America. He is also campaigning to have Niiji (meaning friend) replace the term Indian, similar to how Eskimo became Inuit.
