Lana Whiskeyjack

Awina niya?

First and foremost, "nîya ayisiyiniw ôma ohci asiskiy (I am a human of this earth)."

Lana Whiskeyjack is nêhiyaw treaty band member from Saddle Lake Cree Nation in Treaty Six, Alberta. She is a visual storyteller, multidisciplinary scholarartist, author, and public speaker based in amiskwaciwâskahikan (ᐊᒥᐢᑲᐧᒋᐋᐧᐢᑲᐦᐃᑲᐣ) Edmonton, where she is an associate professor in the department of Women's and Gender Studies, University of Alberta. Her Indigenous arts-based research portfolio explores womanhood, sexual health, nêhiyaw gender diversity, kinshipand governance systems, all grounded in the spirit of nêhiyawêwin (Cree language) and ancestral practices. She is featured in a documentary about confronting and transcending historical trauma through her arts-based practice titled, “Lana Gets Her Talk” (Director Beth Wishart MacKenzie, 2017).

Education

Whiskeyjack received her Art and Design diploma from Red Deer College, now called Red Deer Polytechnic; Bachelor of Arts (Honours) and a Master of Arts degree in Canadian Studies. A doctorate degree at the University nuhelot’įne thaiyots’į nistameyimâkanak Blue Quills (Blue Quills University) where she also taught for over 12 years.

Research

Research and teaching expertise in Indigenous community engagement, arts-based practices; arts as ceremony and pedagogy; language revitalization; digital storytelling; nêhiyaw diverse genders; iskwêwêwin (Cree womanhood) sexual health, decolonizing sexuality, body sovereignty, and wellbeing; Indigenous women’s economic security and wellness; Indigenous ethics, including ethical relationality, reciprocity, kinship, and ceremonial protocols.

Art

Creating art is ceremony. When I go into my creative mode, I am connecting to a higher spiritual intelligence and ancestral wisdom. My art helps connect me to spirit of the land, cosmos, and kakiyaw niwâhkôhmakanak. Art is a way to walk in beauty in this world, while also expressing the injustices that impact the original humans of this land. Art is a spiritual language that helps to steward and protect our ancestral knowledge.