KALAPUYAN WOMAN

Inspired by the Five Oaks Museum exhibit, This IS Kalapuyan Land, curated by Steph Littlebird Fogel.

It features a Kalapuyan woman adorned by elements with historical indigenous significance; her hair is a river carrying items that would have been a part of her daily life. A cedar woven basket for collecting salmon, a digging stick (tupl) and the camas lily it harvested, acorns, a shallow canoe and the wapato tuber it collected, arrow leaf balsamroot for medicine, and lupine representing the Kalapuyan peoples’ habitat creations and ecological stewardship. Kalapuyan people are native to the Willamette Valley, the land I live on, and I wanted to create a window into their connection to this place, and to share with others residing here. This piece was purchased for the City of Portland, Oregon, by the Regional Arts & Culture Council, and is featured in a Multnomah County public works building.