Artists

T’uy’t’tanat-Cease Wyss

T'uy't'tanat-Cease Wyss is an interdisciplinary artist, ethnobotanist, educator, and activist from Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, Stó:lō, and Hawaiian descent. Her work highlights Indigenous languages and cultural elements, and often takes the shape of gardens created on brownfield sites, in abandoned yards between high-rises, and other spaces where she sees the need to restore and remediate Indigenous plants and ecosystems that previously existed there.

Countries / Nations
Skwxwú7mesh / Stó:lō / Hawaiian / Swiss / Canada

Works

TEIONHENKWEN Supporters of Life

With TEIONHENKWEN – SOUTIENS DE LA VIE, a community garden created in collaboration with Silverbear and Joce TwoCrows Mashkikii Bimosewin Tremblay, Wyss acknowledges the overarching influence of the Dish With One Spoon Wampum, a long-standing law used by Indigenous peoples of Turtle Island since time immemorial, as a Nation-to-Nation agreement to peaceably share harvesting territory. The site was conceived as a place of gathering and healing, bringing people together and offering herbs for anyone to take for personal use. The plants are local native varieties and are carefully researched for their medicinal properties and their utilitarian and ceremonial values. The shapes in which they are bedded-in are inspired by local Indigenous cultural symbols. All of these elements combine to create visibility for Indigenous plants, peoples, and animals that are present but have few safe places to gather and coexist in urban spaces.