Medicines To Help Us, 2003
Acrylic on Canvas
55" x 91"
Medicines To Help Us is a painting for the Métis Nation. It is a painting that depicts 27
plants painted in dots to emulate Metis traditional beadwork. Each plant depicted within
the piece is a type of wild plant that can be found in one or all provinces from Ontario to
British Columbia (the same area of land as the traditional Métis homeland).
The initial idea for the painting came from the Métis In The 21st Century Conference in
Saskatoon, (June 2003) organized by Maria Campbell and Paul Chartrand. Rose
Richardson, a Metis Elder and medicine person, spoke at the conference on natural
medicines about the medicinal properties of plants such as Stinging Nettle and Yarrow
among others. Rose also spoke about the importance of preserving the natural habitat
for various species of plants and how those natural habitats are disappearing. Nettle
and Yarrow were among the first I researched and placed in the piece. The choice of
including American Ginseng, an endangered species, was included to emphasize
Rose’s point about the need for preserving the natural habitats of plants.
The painting is titled Medicines to Help Us, because I wanted to create a painting that
contained my prayers for our Nation to be healthy and strong again. I grew up immersed
in Métis politics and experienced first hand, all throughout my life, the ups and downs of
politics. Modern Metis political organizations have accomplished some great things for
our people: in housing, training, education and law to name a few. But I can’t help but
be saddened by the state of our current political systems and the way we have become
our own worst enemies in the process of it all. We stab our brothers and sisters in the
back at our meetings. We become petty in arguments over money. Instead of working
together, we let provincial boundaries separate and divide us. And most importantly, we
have made no place in our governance structures for the wisdom of elders to pervade
our decision making as a nation. And this is just within Metis politics, not to mention
what we do to ourselves as individuals. So with this painting I am attempting show the
beautiful side of our people. All the knowledge of our ancestors is still contained within
the people. When we respect each other and the land, we are reminded of the old ways,
we feel good about ourselves and we treat each other as brothers and sisters. The land
has a great deal to teach us about how to live with one another.
As in many of my paintings, the use of black background is a reference to the historical
use of black velvet by Métis beadworkers, as is the use of symmetry. The roots are
depicted to indicate there is more to life than what is seen on the surface and that our
ancestry has great influence we cannot see over our lives. The various plants emerging
from the single stem is also a reference to the interconnection between all living things.