This series is intended to be a representation to how much of our resistance today is rooted in our ancestors. So often I hear that we have allowed ourselves to put on reservations or in the conditions that we are in now, but that us not the truth. We are alive today, to take back what is rightfully ours, thanks to the action and dedication of our elders and past generations. This art series is not just intended to counter the ahistorical lie that we have silently and passively accepted our fate — a lie that our government and our schools feed us — but is also to show immense gratitude to the guidance and wisdom and strength of the past seven generations, to give hope to the future seven generations.
Indigenous resistance is not “in an upswing,” it has been constant for seven generations. Our ancestors guide us, our elders give us wisdom, and our youth walk us forward. We the hope to our next seven generations, for them to see a whole new world emerge from this one, to see a revolution. This task though is not solely for our decedents, we must and shall do everything to give our descendants this path. We are on this journey with them, walking with all our people past, present, and future.
Miigwetch
Askwali
Ahéhee’
“Rain come with a crash of thunder.
It comes not the be harsh,
But to replenish the earth.” — J.T. Cornelius, Voices of Red Cloud (1998)
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Caro Gonzales Kuehner Hebert is an artist, writer and activist based in Olympia, Washington.