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Item Name: Print
Title: Sacred Iniskin Buffalo Stone
Maker: Jane Ash Poitras
Year: 1992
Country: Canadian
Materials: photo lithograph on paper
Measurements: work: 76 cm x 101 cm
ID Number: PC2017.4
Legal Status: PERMANENT COLLECTION
Extended Label Info: In her work as an artist, Jane Ash Poitras has been significant in the development of a new visual vocabulary for First Nations perspectives in contemporary art, combining the representational strategies of postmodern art—collage, layering, overpainting and incorporation of found objects—with a deep commitment to the politics and issues common to Indigenous peoples. She uses a vocabulary of layered images, found objects and texts in a self-described “reclamation process,” combining autobiographical elements with traditional Nêhiyawak (Cree) symbolism to address issues of acculturation and colonization. This work, “Sacred Iniskin Buffalo Stone”, draws attention to the significance of the sacred buffalo stone as a medicine object of the Niitsitapi/Blackfoot, Heévâhetaneo'o/Cheyenne, Nêhiyawak/Cree and other peoples of the plains. The word “Iniskim” means “Buffalo Calling Stone.” Local to Southern Alberta, these objects, “Buffalo Stones” are not rocks, but 71-million-year-old fossils (similar to Ammolite gemstones), segments of baculite, a fossilized sea creature. These were a type of ammonite that were straight instead of coiled. The shape of the septa walls are uneven, and as it weathers, baculite can resemble the shape of a buffalo - with four legs and a big chin. These stones were used in ritual to call buffalo and are said to make a faint chirp sound, much like a bird, according to stories of the Niitsitapi /Blackfoot peoples. Dr. Jane Ash Poitras CM RCA (1951 - ) is an internationally acclaimed visual artist and lecturer who has influenced a generation of artists and students. Born on the Mikisew Cree First Nation in Fort Chipewyan Alberta, Poitras grew up in Edmonton. At the University of Alberta, she first earned a BSc in Microbiology before moving into visual art and earning her BFA in Printmaking. In 1985, she earned her MFA at Columbia University (New York City, USA). Returning to Canada, Poitras joined the University of Alberta’s Faculty of Native Studies. Poitras has a strong international exhibition history and is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Alberta Centennial Medal, the National Aboriginal Achievement Award for Arts and Culture, University of Alberta Alumni Award of Excellence and the Lieutenant Governor of Alberta Distinguished Artist Award, the Order of Canada, the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal, and honorary doctorates from the University of Calgary and the University of Alberta. Her work is included in over fifty prestigious public and private collections.
Title: Sacred Iniskin Buffalo Stone
Maker: Jane Ash Poitras
Year: 1992
Country: Canadian
Materials: photo lithograph on paper
Measurements: work: 76 cm x 101 cm
ID Number: PC2017.4
Legal Status: PERMANENT COLLECTION
Extended Label Info: In her work as an artist, Jane Ash Poitras has been significant in the development of a new visual vocabulary for First Nations perspectives in contemporary art, combining the representational strategies of postmodern art—collage, layering, overpainting and incorporation of found objects—with a deep commitment to the politics and issues common to Indigenous peoples. She uses a vocabulary of layered images, found objects and texts in a self-described “reclamation process,” combining autobiographical elements with traditional Nêhiyawak (Cree) symbolism to address issues of acculturation and colonization. This work, “Sacred Iniskin Buffalo Stone”, draws attention to the significance of the sacred buffalo stone as a medicine object of the Niitsitapi/Blackfoot, Heévâhetaneo'o/Cheyenne, Nêhiyawak/Cree and other peoples of the plains. The word “Iniskim” means “Buffalo Calling Stone.” Local to Southern Alberta, these objects, “Buffalo Stones” are not rocks, but 71-million-year-old fossils (similar to Ammolite gemstones), segments of baculite, a fossilized sea creature. These were a type of ammonite that were straight instead of coiled. The shape of the septa walls are uneven, and as it weathers, baculite can resemble the shape of a buffalo - with four legs and a big chin. These stones were used in ritual to call buffalo and are said to make a faint chirp sound, much like a bird, according to stories of the Niitsitapi /Blackfoot peoples. Dr. Jane Ash Poitras CM RCA (1951 - ) is an internationally acclaimed visual artist and lecturer who has influenced a generation of artists and students. Born on the Mikisew Cree First Nation in Fort Chipewyan Alberta, Poitras grew up in Edmonton. At the University of Alberta, she first earned a BSc in Microbiology before moving into visual art and earning her BFA in Printmaking. In 1985, she earned her MFA at Columbia University (New York City, USA). Returning to Canada, Poitras joined the University of Alberta’s Faculty of Native Studies. Poitras has a strong international exhibition history and is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Alberta Centennial Medal, the National Aboriginal Achievement Award for Arts and Culture, University of Alberta Alumni Award of Excellence and the Lieutenant Governor of Alberta Distinguished Artist Award, the Order of Canada, the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal, and honorary doctorates from the University of Calgary and the University of Alberta. Her work is included in over fifty prestigious public and private collections.