I am an Indigenous woman who is a multidisciplinary artist. I am a musician, actor, and playwright. I also do beadwork and regalia making. My artistic practice fuses traditional Anishinaabe cosmology and western theatre training in both process and outcome.
There is no word for “art” in our Ojibwe language, which means much of my career as an artist is really just a reflection of the way I was raised in a community that believes everything is art and therefore requires our creative presence always. So, my artistic practice may look like Jingle Dress Dancing, beadwork, drumming, singing, performing or creative writing but I also consider everything else with the same process of creativity that may look less “artistic” through a Western lens. Conversing, cooking and going for a walk are all just as important to my artistic practice and life as any of the other perhaps more performative examples. Everything is connected in how I make art and live my life and the outcomes whether that be a performance, a beaded bracelet or a Jingle Dress should always reflect that.
