Manoomin

30” x 41”

Acrylic Paint on Stretched Canvas

In Collaboration with Dr. Marissa Jablonski, Executive Director for the Freshwater Collaborative of Wisconsin

I am an Indigenous Mexican Oneida artist raised on the Wisconsin Oneida Reservation in Longhouse and Teepee Peyote traditional ceremonies. Among my earliest memories are the ones of me in the teepee with my family, looking up through the smoke flap at the evening sky above imagining the spirit world active outside. I imagined my little prayers being lifted to the creator, carried on the smoke of our fire and the way our spirits might look if we weren’t bodies. What colors would we be? Is it dark in the spirit world? Would we look like puffs of colors and swirls of spirits within? We would stop for water and thank all the spirits in each of the four directions before we drink, and I remember it being the coolest, most refreshing drink of water I’ve ever had the pleasure of sharing. 

I created “Manoomin” in collaboration with water professional, Dr. Marissa Jablonski, to reflect on the rich spiritual relationship that Wisconsin has with its bodies of water by painting a wild rice field with acrylic on canvas. With Dr. Jablonski’s background in bringing running water to the Indigenous communities of Guatemala and my background in Oneida and First Nations culture we were able to envision an intimate lush landscape with water at the forefront providing sustenance to the people. This idea of Wisconsin waters bringing this sustenance is not a new one and is referenced in the Menominee people’s original creation stories, that often speak of the Creator gifting Manoomin (wild rice) to the people. I created “Manoomin” not only to honor the Menominee Tribe of Wisconsin and shed light on present day indigenous perspectives, but to also reflect on the importance of wetland preservation in the face of Wisconsin’s declining wild rice fields.