Lynette La Fontaine (she/her/hers), a two-spirit Otipemisiwak artist, shares personal reflections on what getting her Fire Back means. She explores her personal journey of reclaiming, resurging, and Michif traditional values in the current context of healing, lateral violence, and a contemporary, mixed media art practice formally and informally trained with mentors. Lynette would like to acknowledge all her mentors past, present and future starting with her lifelong mentor and mama LeEtta La Fontaine (colour theory, painting and so much more), Kim Gullion-Stewart (hide tanning, caribou hair tufting and more), Maryann Whitefish (drumming and singing, beading and ceremony knowledge), Brenda Crabtree (drum making, birch bark basketry, beading, tufting), Lisa Shepherd (embroidery beading, moccasin making, Metis specific beading knowledge), Marlene Erickson (beading), Chris and Joyce Roberts (beading and cultural knowledge), Leona Neilson (Michif language and plant knowledge), Sue Perron (fibre and plant knowledge), Jaime Morse (whitefish scale art), Erin Konsmo (whitefish scale art), Amy Malbeuf (caribou hair tufting, moose hair embroidery and caribou hair sculpting), Greggory Scofield (historical Metis beadwork knowledge), Jennine Krauchi (Metis specific beading), as well as a multitude of beautiful two-spirit kin and people who are picking up these teachings together in community.
Learning from Sharing: A Series of Voices on Diversity is a periodic podcast by Two Rivers Gallery where our staff have conversations with some of the amazing artists and community members we work with. This series is dedicated to sharing voices around Indigenous knowledges, LGBTQ2+ knowledges, Inclusion, and Diversity.
Two Rivers Gallery is situated on the traditional, unceded territory of the Lheidli T'enneh, also known as Prince George, British Columbia, Canada.
Check out some of Lynette's work on her social media pages:
Additional Links:
Intro & Outro Music:
Rite of Passage by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4291-rite-of-passage