Nuin-Tara ᓄᐃᓐᑕᕋ Star Daughter Woman, Turtle Island (Canadian) based Cree woman, residing in Nogojiwanong (Peterborough) on Anishinabewaki ᐊᓂᔑᓈᐯᐗᑭ land, is an artist of mixed descent embracing her Indigenous cultures and creating visual Anishinaabe teachings through oil paintings.
What influenced you to use art as a form of activism?
Born into a white home without my father I wasn’t raised with Cree traditions. Representation and cultural revival are important for our future generations. I embrace indigenous designs in my paintings, practice beadwork and use animals to create traditional art.
I hope to bring awareness to the sacred beliefs and knowledge from our Ancestors, by creating visual teachings about Anishnaabemowin culture.
Visual art doesn’t require a voice but a presence.
– Nuin-Tara Wilson
How do you promote activism through your work?
Telling a visual story and incorporating cultural traditions when creating and actively being a part of an artistic community that wants to bring inspiration and colour, enlighten and bring awareness through artistic expression to local communities.
I have an opportunity to bring awareness to our indigenous communities of Turtle Island, understand where we are from, and bring back some of what was lost, and also learning my cultural traditions for my art to inspire indigenous youth to embrace themselves no matter how light their skin colour. We are still present and a lot of us were born in mixed families, urban settings and were unable to grow up around our sacred traditions. Art has emotion and can carry a story and a history like the land we walk on. It has the power to form and present our identity. I feel it’s important to recognize that history, and the pain that comes along with the beauty of it. In order to appreciate the beautiful you have to understand the tragedy behind it.
Art has visual power, it will remain like we remain.
– Nuin-Tara Wilson
To see more of Nuin-Tara’s work:
Check out her website!
Check out her Instagram!
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