THE WATERS MEET

As a little girl, I went with my dad as he set the nets every year early in the summer. He would talk me through the entire process, from securing the rope to the shore straight through to tighten up the slack when it was all said and done. This was the epitome of our relationship.

The mornings were quiet and calm, and I would lie on his back as he leaned over the front of the boat checking the nets. I would watch what he was doing, no words needed to be exchanged. This is how he taught me.

I have mixed heritage on my paternal side of the family: my grandfather is a settler, and my grandmother is Innu. Both these ancestries heavily influence my artistic practice. This exhibition marries both heritages as I create a net used by my grandfather made with beading techniques of my grandmother.

The beadwork for the net was crafted by adding one pair of beads at a time, representing both sides of my heritage. It is important for both of my grandparents, their influences, and their skills be displayed together in this piece.

I watched my father and grandfather mend gill nets in the backyard every summer, an anchoring point for childhood memories.

My father recently taught me how to assemble and mend nets, something I’ve wanted to know since I was a child. I am creating my first net using seed beads and netting rope from my father.

Video stills from The Heart of the Root online exhibition curated by Meagan Musseau. Filmed Lauren Eddy.