Flower Spoon

Gitxsan
Yellow Cedar, Cedar Bark
3.5” x 12” x 3”

This piece is a homage to the many flowers that grow wild on my reservation. The flowers you see painted on the spoon include a dandelion, honeysuckles, red clovers, fireweed, and buttercups, each one representing the rich biodiversity that can be found on my ancestral lands. I wanted to bring the beauty of my reservation, Gitanmaax, to life. To be a little bit more specific on why I chose those certain flowers from my reserve, here is a little bit of an extra explanation for that:

I chose the dandelion because of the many silly little things we would do with the dandelion flower. Such as making accessories out of them or using them for games. I chose the honeysuckle because a lot of us kids used to eat the nectar out of the bottoms of it for a little snack. Red clovers used to be my favourite flowers as a kid and I used to pick them all the time for my house. Of course, I had to add the fireweed in there, which is a traditional flower for people in my community. Along with being used as a medicinal plant, fireweed is also one of the clans in my nation. Last but not least, I chose buttercups because we used to hold them under each other's chin to see if we liked butter or not, and would use them to decorate our hair.

- Aryona Pullano