ᐸᐢᑫᐃᐧᐣ

Elk and deer hides stretched onto brass hoops, printed transfers, sinew, wooden and plastic beads, silent metal bell.

What languages do you speak? Why?

There is tension in language and the power it has to shape perception. There is a deep struggle of regaining access to our ancestral languages as indigenous peoples. There is misunderstanding of what it all means and how it is we have come to lose what we have; what exactly was taken. Navigating this colonial space while honouring ourselves is a task which requires resistance and persistence. However, healing and acceptance are also necessary in order to move forward into our best imagined futures, spaces where we thrive and connect. The labour to tying theses hides is meticulous, and the tension of the languages is reflected in the tension of the sinew as it works to stretch the skins. Skins are inscribed with words, a reminder of the ways our bodies and relations are affected by language. Knowing our language, we know who we are and where we are going.