FROM PETROGLYPHS TO PUBLIC ART

The legacy of Indigenous creativity

Mi’kmaw artists don’t just work in music and dance, of course. There’s basketry, jewellery, painting, printmaking, sculpture, and ceramics. Regardless of the form, the work is an expression of Mi’kmaw heritage, viewed through a contemporary lens. Of the recent explosion in Mi’kmaw arts, Alan Syliboy says, “I look at this as a whole renaissance of Mi’kmaw culture being expressed in many ways.”

Syliboy is a groundbreaker as one of the bestknown Mi’kmaw artists. His paintings often take inspiration from original Mi’kmaw designs, symbols, and even petroglyphs. As a contemporary Mi’kmaw artist, he builds upon these inspirations with brilliant colours and animated composition to give them new life. Animals of all kinds appear in his work, many of them fish and mammals from the sea. At the same time, his work is an expression of something we might call the Mi’kmaw universe.

“We’re a coastal people,” says Syliboy. “We’ve been driven inland, so I’m trying to regain the shore, to bring more images that are water-based — whales, porpoises, sea turtles — into my art.”

Lorne Julien, another popular Mi’kmaw artist, is known for the large, colourful murals he paints for schools and other public spaces. His goal is to help create safe, inclusive spaces that honour Indigenous peoples. He sees these public works as acts of reconciliation and believes they result in mutual respect and understanding.

Julien also works in photography, stained glass and other media. Through the use of vibrant colours and Indigenous design, he hopes to uplift people’s spirits. One of his projects gained wide recognition when he painted hockey sticks as awards for outstanding players at the 2022 world junior hockey championship.

For other Mi’kmaw artisans, materials themselves honour original customs and forms of expression. Locally sourced leather, porcupine quills, wood, and beads are the raw materials for beautifully handcrafted works of the highest quality.

Nancy Oakley is one Mi’kmaw artisan who calls upon the materials and methods of the past.

“Love Struck,” by Lorne Julien.

Trained in Canada and the U.S. in weaving, jewellery, and photography, she was particularly taken with ceramics.

“I do smoke-fired pottery and incorporate elements like sweet grass, black-ash basketry, bead work, and Mi’kmaw hieroglyphics,” says Oakley. She also uses clay found in her own back yard in Eskasoni. “I’m also recreating traditional Mi’kmaw cooking pots.”

Oakley, a First Nation artist of Wampanoag and Mi’kmaq descent, says of her work: “It’s who I am.”

When artists like Syliboy, Julien, and Oakley draw upon their Mi’kmaw heritage to create new art, they become knowledge keepers. Contained within their works is the worldview of the Mi’kmaw people. As Syliboy puts it, “We’ve made marks and done ceremony on this ground for 113,000 moons. It’s where our DNA comes from.” *