Why Edmonton Meet Lana Whiskeyjack

Q: How did you get started as an artist?

Lana: Art was always part of our communication at home. Visual literacy is important in Indigenous communities. After art school, I lost the desire to create. But after doing my doctorate courses (In 2017, Lana completed her iyiniw pimâtisiwin kiskêyihtamowin doctoral program (ipkDoc) at University nuhelot’įne thaiyots’į nistamêyimâkanak Blue Quills (UnBQ), a former Indian Residential School attended by two generations of her family), I became inspired. I started creating again as a way of processing intergenerational trauma through art.

Q: How would you describe Edmonton to people who have never been here or heard of it?

Lana: I love Edmonton because of its creative communities and social innovation around being good relatives of this land. We have educated and informed leadership here. The Cree name for Edmonton is amiskwacîwâskahikan (Beaver Hills House). amiskwak (beavers) are builders, they are water protectors and value family that includes the plants, water, and water beings. Edmontonians are builders and I have met many iniwak (beings of this land) and creative change makers that call amiskwacîwâskahikan their home and contribute greatly to building this city into a beautiful community that respects the land, water and human relatives.

Community organizations like Beaver Hills Biosphere(external link), who help with land sharing programs between non-Indigenous land owners with Indigenous families within the city, Bear Clan Beavers Hills House(external link), a community patrol group that provides a sense of safety, solidarity and belonging to our houseless relations and the Water Warriors Yeg(external link), a group of inclusive volunteers that bring water, food and supplies to the houseless kin. There are so many amazing community kin that I cannot name all in this short answer. They genuinely support from their heARTS with their songs, arts, businesses, programs, prayers, and love.

Q: What do you hope settlers can learn from Indigenous teachings to better understand the land upon which we reside?

Lana: I want Edmontonians to learn to be anti-oppressive and anti-racist. To understand the colonization impacts on Indigenous peoples with the empathy of understanding. Newcomers need to know about that history too.

Q: If you’re willing to share, I know through your art and your work, you’ve tackled addressing some of the uglier parts of our nation’s history. What’s your philosophy when it comes to approaching that?

Lana: I begin with centring spirit within ceremony, guided by some amazing matriarchs, Elders and knowledge keepers/share-ers. Kinship is foundational in our Indigenous ways of knowing and being, within our language all life is related, we are interconnected and whatever we say and do impacts the web of our relatives, including our more than human kin. nîya ayisiyiniw ôma ohci asiskiy translates to I am a human of this earth, which means I have an inherent responsibility to walk with the laws of this land, truth, sharing, kindness and courage. In order to share truth of the past to the present, I need courage to acknowledge the trauma but also the strength we iniwak endured, which I hope is reciprocated by our non-Indigenous kin.

I give gratitude to the many incredible courageous and kind leaders within amiskwacîwâskahikan who continue to work with our Indigenous communities, ways of knowing and being, to help provide opportunities to address historical harms, nurture spirit, create inclusive kind spaces and open spaces for our youth to thrive. I sakwe you!