When the Okanagan Indigenous Music and Arts Society put out a call for an opportunity to paint a mural on the 91大黄鸭 Gospel Mission, Syilx artist Sheldon Pierre Louis knew he wanted to pitch a design, but he wasn鈥檛 entirely sure what that design would be.

Then, one night, his partner Csetkwe had a dream about Louis鈥檚 aunty Lucy, an Okanagan artist who Louis credited as a major inspiration in his life.

鈥淢y aunty Lucy, she always supported me and looked on from afar as I was becoming a young artist. She always loved seeing my artwork and what I did,鈥� said Louis.

In Csetkwe鈥檚 dream, Louis said that his aunty told him that he needs to paint salmon, an animal that is a primary food mainstay of the Syilx Okanagan people that has become central to their culture and trade traditions.

For 10 years, Louis said that salmon has been a central component of his work, using his art to draw attention to environmental impacts on salmon and the Columbia River.

鈥淚 still struggled with it. I鈥檝e created so many salmon pieces. How is a salmon piece going to fit in the downtown core?鈥� he said.

As he thought more about it, he decided that his design would be more than just salmon 鈥� it would be a memorial piece dedicated to his aunty. He looked back at old video footage of her reflecting on her work at the Round Lake Treatment Centre, a drug and alcohol rehabilitation centre located in Okanagan Indian Band (OKIB) territory.

READ MORE: Syilx artist selected as winner of 91大黄鸭 Gospel Mission鈥檚 mural project

鈥淪he went to work, and her and my uncle, that kind of became their life. Helping to heal people, helping them move out of alcoholism and drug addictions,鈥� said Louis. 鈥淭hat was a part of her early life. That kind of relates to the wording, the k史u mr虛imstn - we are medicine. It鈥檚 kind of a reminder that each of us are medicine.鈥�

He also had a vision of incorporating fellow OKIB community member and artist Billie Kruger into the design, drawing inspiration from an image of her releasing salmon into the waterway. He reached out to Kruger and pitched the idea to her, which she welcomed.

As it turns out, Kruger was friends with aunty Lucy, something Louis wasn鈥檛 aware of until Kruger told him.

鈥淚 didn鈥檛 understand why, at the time, I wanted to put her in this mural,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut now that she shared this story about aunty Lucy, by all means, she needs to be part of this mural.鈥�

With aunty Lucy as the design鈥檚 centrepiece, Louis formulated an idea to capture three Indigenous women in three different stages of their lives in the mural. His niece, Irene, was the third piece of the puzzle.

鈥淭his photo was of my niece wearing this old, kinda grandma-looking sweater and a ribbon skirt. She looked like a little grandma, basically,鈥� he said. 鈥淎 little, young grandma. It鈥檚 a perfect image.鈥�

Coincidentally, baby Irene was named after Louis鈥檚 grandmother, who happened to be the aunt to aunty Lucy.

鈥淚t seemed like a coincidence, but not quite a coincidence that all those pieces seemed to come together in the way they did,鈥� he said.

In his design, he featured the faces of two tuma (grandmother) spirits behind the three women watching over them.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a bit of a contrast of the old and the new grandmother spirits that are watching over those women, watching over and being caregivers over the land and the language,鈥� he said. 鈥淎lso, just looking over those people who are living on the streets and watching over them as well.鈥�

Written twice on the design is 鈥渨e are medicine鈥� 鈥� once in Nsyilxc蓹n and again in English.

鈥淢y grandfather 鈥� he never taught his kids or us grandkids the language. He regretted it in his final years,鈥� said Louis.

鈥淗e said any little bit of your language that you know 鈥� it doesn鈥檛 matter if it鈥檚 three, five words or more 鈥� he said you make sure you always use it in whatever way and whenever you can.鈥�

While 鈥渨e are medicine鈥� speaks to aunt Lucy鈥檚 work at the Round Lake Treatment Centre, Louis said it also speaks to missing and murdered Indigenous women and Two-Spirit people.

鈥淭he whole crisis that鈥檚 surrounding that, I wanted to also give a reminder that our women are medicine. They鈥檙e important. We need to protect them,鈥� he said.

Salmon lined the design鈥檚 border, which he said speaks to the resiliency of the Syilx people, their language and their land.

In April, Louis鈥檚 design, titled 鈥渒史u mr虛imstn - we are medicine,鈥� was selected as the winning concept for the Gospel Mission鈥檚 mural project. He got to work on the art piece at the end of August, spending a total of 15 days over a three-week period painting the design.

Each day would last around six to eight hours, where he would slowly piece together the design on the 25 ft. by 100 ft. wall. But during the first week of undertaking the painting, he was living in a hotel after being evacuated due to the White Rock Lake wildfire on Aug. 4.

鈥淚 spent a week in a hotel in Westbank at that time, separated from community and family. At that time, it was more of, 鈥業 had to push through this,鈥欌�� said Louis, who鈥檚 also a councillor on the OKIB鈥檚 band council.

It wasn鈥檛 until Sept. 4 when he was able to go back to his Vernon home.

鈥淚 really had to try and manage my emotional state as best as I could. Doing that work as an artist, you鈥檙e putting a piece of yourself into that,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 had to be very careful when I was on that wall that my mind and my heart weren鈥檛 in a place of stress and worry around the fires.鈥�

He wrapped up painting the mural on Sept. 12, adding the final salmon touches to the bottom of the mural, after initially deciding against it the day before.

鈥淲hen I decided to go do it, it was the two-year anniversary of aunt Lucy鈥檚 passing,鈥� he said. 鈥淚鈥檓 really grateful that I did go back to add those salmon because it creates much more of a connection and much more of a memory of her to it.鈥�

After bringing the mural to life, he described the experience of being able actually to see his finished work as amazing.

鈥淓ven though we were going through a very tough and stressful time, to come through that and still be able to put something so beautiful like that, so representative of our people and nation, it really helped to uplift obviously some of the people in our community here that were dealing with the evacuation,鈥� he said.

鈥淚t鈥檚 been received very well from our nation members. They always remind me that the work I鈥檓 doing out there is important. It鈥檚 representing us, showcasing us, reminding the people they live in Syilx territory.鈥�

READ MORE: Strengthening Syilx women鈥檚 identities, ties to the land

aaron.hemens@kelownacapnews.com
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