Artist's statement:

The Mohawk Nation
Akwek:on Tekhwanonkwerat:on
Greetings to Our Proud People

Kahnawake traces its roots from the Mohawk village of Ossernenon on the banks of the Mohawk River in what is now known as New York State. Ossernenon, or Kahnawake, as it was later called, was the Eastern Door of the Longhouse of the Five Nations. Mohawk travellers and hunters from this area re-asserted Iroquois rights along the St. Lawrence River by establishing an Indian community at Kentake, near la Prairie de la Magdelaine, Quebec in 1667. Our present community dates from 1716. Kahnawake, in the Mohawk language means "On the Rapids". Kahnawake's free spirit now faces the future with a determination and self confidence born of centuries-old tradition.

A Pow-Wow is a time for Indian People to gather together for dancing, singing, renewing old friendships and making new ones. It is s time to reminisce of the old ways and to plan for the preservation of their rich heritage. As an artist, it is a privilege and honour for me to be able to paint Mohawk people like The Wise Owl, Gene Blackbird, Flint Kagle, Kasenine Two Rivers and Margaret Kawennisson. My inspirations come from the annual Pow-Wow "Echoes of a Proud
Nation" at Kahnawake, Quebec, Canada.

On a hot summer day in July, 1994, I stood on the edge of the sacred ground at the Kahnawake Mohawk Reservation anticipating my first observance of a native Pow-Wow. As the dancers entered in their bright costumes to the beat of the drums, I knew that these were the people that I would interpret in paint and pastel. Their performances enchanted me. To the beat of the tom-tom came the women dancers in their traditional ribbon dresses, the ribbons swirling in the wind as they moved.
Then the men, handsome in their buck skins and turquoise jewellery, in harmony with the drum.

As the various nations gathered, they shared their songs, stories, and traditions. Dancers have always been a part of Indian life. "Most dances seen at Pow-Wows today are "special" and might have had different meanings tbough their importance has not changed. Vitality and movement are integrated
into my paintings and a casting of rainbow colours emerge in celebration of the dances of the Mohawk nation.

Impressionistic strokes and the bold unleashed freedom of the Abstract Expressionists are the artistic freedom I can take when I render the people who are part of the earth and who have never harmed the earth.