Spaces, people, practices, “stuff" — all live, die, become different, and in all kinds of ways return again and again. It’s always a circle, isn’t it?
Colonialism and colonial violence is everywhere. Sometimes, it can mask itself and try to appear silent and subtle. But it’s always political, it’s always personal, and it is, in all ways, an aggressive push to remove lifeways, bodies, language, and love. Colonialism says that land and people belong to it, and to it alone. That land and people are resources. That land and people are property and should work toward colonialisms end goal.
Reminders of our love, and that we won’t be going anywhere, and belong to no one except each other either are larger and more important than this, I think. We belong to the land, we’ll always belong to the land; we’ll always be there, always be made of there. We belong to each other. When I write the word land, I’m thinking of all of its shapes, forms, and ways of being. Land in rural and urban space, land as mountain, riparian land, landwash bathed in salt water, land as forest. Quilted land sheltering and shaping us over, and over.
It’s always in my mind, or maybe in my heart, that we’ll always hear, see, and communicate the most to our kin; our people, and our other-than-human relatives. When I focus, I can and I hope we can, hear through pressing colonial force. We can see each other through it, we can hear each other. I know that we’ll all continue to navigate through it, toward each other and toward that place where we can simply co-exist. And, I think, we have always done that. Maybe I have utopic impulses, but a little bit of idealistic visioning can go a very long way.
I consider cloth making as medicine, particularly blankets. Blankets given as a gift is one that should offer tender beauty, perfect comfort, and soft shelter; a person could feel cared for and truly, deeply loved when they’re given a blanket. A blanket can hold a person, carry them with care by hand-making. In my experience and practice, blankets are usually given at specific place-points in life — at birth, during family building, during death. Blankets are part of, or are in themselves, a ceremony. My mother makes quilts for every new baby she learns about. Her friends, our family, and often for strangers to her — she gives them in the spirit of care. I learn(ed) from her.
For a long time, I’ve wanted to code blankets more deeply. I weave with meaning to my specific place in the world and, I believe, in such a way that speaks to my ancestors and their place(s) in the world too. Studying, being marked with, and leaning (some) Nlaka’pamux motif has added a layer of meaning to my work and I hope I have contributed well to the body of cloth generated by Indigenous makers. I hope that my presence and makings have meaning in the long continuum of Indigenous makers. I hope that the technical specs, prints, and samples in this package are of practical use to you. I hope you see some semblance of your self and future works in them too.
Me, I moved home to Katalisk, Ktaqmkuk/Codroy Valley, newfoundland in 2020 (not a covid move!) and making this work now has truly helped me to re-embed myself. The time has been sweet, and right. Working with Dion Kaszas on ancestral tattoo markings, showed me the right time to begin this woven work. Being near my Mom every day, swimming in salt water most days, eating the food I was raised on and drinking water from the spring I grew up on, visiting those places that remember me back — it all marked the right time to go deeper.
This sort of beginning has been a research phase. Studying and applying marks that are familiar to me, and to so many others, has opened up new questions for me. I have needed guidance. I have welcomed help.
I can see my work continuing in this vein, and adapting. I am very interested in the structure of these cloths, and what they could become while I think about maps, place, and embedded memories. I have interrelated questions that I would like to explore further through making. Sampling these blankets led me to these questions and more making will help me to come to some answers.