HONOURINGS
2026
Honourings is an ongoing series of symbolic portraits created in collaboration with Indigenous leaders whose work draws on Indigenous worldviews to care for community. The seven honourings presented here are the first completed works in this ongoing project.
Each leader is invited to choose five symbols that reflect who they are. These symbols shape each honouring, creating entry points into the relationships, knowledge, and responsibilities that inform their work.
These works are not about capturing likeness, but about honouring presence—mapping identity through symbol, story, and connection.
Following exhibition, each honouring is gifted to the person who inspired it, carrying the work back into relationship in the spirit of reciprocity.
The honourings included in this series in order of appearance are of Dr. Alex Wilson (Opaskwayak Cree Nation), Elder Barbara Bruce (Red River Métis), Siila Watt-Cloutier (Inuk), Dion Kaszas (Syilx Nation, Métis, Hungarian), Michelle Porter (Red River Métis), Justice Michelle O’Bonsawin (Odanak Abenaki First Nation, Franco-Ontarian), and Dr. Tyson Yunkaporta (Apalech Clan, Wik-Mungkan, Cape York Peninsula, Queensland, Australia).
This work has been made possible through the support of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), the BC Arts Council, Indspire, and the Leung Foundation.
PHOTO CREDIT Gallery image: Michael Barrick Following images: Byron Dauncey