Kitana Connelly
She/Her
This mural honors the Willamette Valley as a place of abundance, relationship, and living memory. For countless generations, the Kalapuya have called this Land home, welcoming neighboring Indigenous bands visiting for seasonal rounds. The generous offerings of this place include camas, wapato, acorn, salmon, lamprey, deer, elk, and much more. These sustained our communities and fostered intertribal trade and the sharing of knowledge. Currently, these plant and animal relatives still live here, but have become scarce in comparison to our Ancestor’s times.
Continued below.
The Native woman bears traditional chin tattoos and is overlooking her homelands. Her hair becomes a mountain on one side and a waterfall on the other, literally connecting to the Land in a way that she needs it, and it needs her. She is both a reflection of the Kalapuya, and a reminder that they remain woven into it.
The lower portion of the mural depicts what anyone sees when visiting this region: water, hills, moss, ferns, and signs of wildlife. Our beautiful forested flora and fauna. Above, flows a spirit river coming out of the ground and carrying what is often not seen unless it is seeked.
The Lands traditional abundance and the technologies born from generations of co-creating with the Land. It is the history, memory, and spirit that exists within the physical landscape. The heart of the Land holding onto that beautiful reciprocity. The magic of this land should be seen, honored, and carried forward.
Hayu masi.
Artist: Kitana Connelly, Twahna Creation (Grand Ronde). www.twahnacreation.com
Assistant Painter: Christopher Spivery, BMVN.