Siksikiinglish: Because You Do Not Have the Language to Read This…

ᓱᖽᐧᖿ (Siksiká) is the language of my mother’s people, the ᖹᐟᒧᐧᒣᑯ (Niitsitapi, Piikani/ Blackfeet tribe). I mine the archive of my family photos (both my ᖹᐟᒧᐧᒣᑯ and white―mother’s and father’s―sides) to layer, collage, and merge with a public archive of my people (Google image results for “Blackfeet beadwork”). I illustrate the complex layers of identity, referencing a non-linear approach to familial connection through editing devices, processes, platforms, and programs made evident in the inclusion of their marks. Each image tells a story, enmeshed in a convergence of different times, various media, and a mixing of visual language, which functions as a singular bead in a string of beadwork that illustrates my family’s experiences.