Indigenous Arts & Stories - Lost Sister

This is a painting I created in response to the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls issue. With the national inquiry taking place late last year and the court rulings of MMIW cases, I wanted to create an artwork to depict these ongoing issues affecting the Aboriginal communities today.

With long hair being significant in Indigenous culture and representative of tradition, I wanted to show a braid being cut. The cut braid symbolizes the loss of a life and loss of tradition. Cutting of the hair is also an indication of the of Residential schools where children would have their hair cut as an act of assimilation, to lose their culture. The hands holding the braid is a sign of remembrance to the lost life and holding onto the culture.

The intention behind this piece is to bring the message of resilience behind Indigenous women; to show that they are not disposable and remember the ones who were stolen from us.