Debra Sparrow - Blankets
December 6 - 21, 2024
Installation view. Photo credit: Rachel Topham Photography
Debra Sparrow, or θəliχʷəlʷət (Thelliawhatlwit), is a Musqueam weaver, artist and knowledge keeper. She is self-taught in Salish design, weaving, and jewellery making.
Sparrow was born and raised on the Musqueam Indian Reserve, part of the traditional territories of the Musqueam people, in Vancouver, BC. Sparrow credits her grandfather, Ed Sparrow, who lived to be 100 years old and remembered the forcible removal of the Musqueam people from Stanley Park, with giving her "300 years of stories" that grounded her in her heritage and enabled her to hear the voices of her ancestors. "We never stopped dancing, we never stopped singing, we never stopped practising our cultural ways," says Sparrow, who considers herself a person who lives and practises traditional ways.
Sparrow was born and raised on the Musqueam Indian Reserve, part of the traditional territories of the Musqueam people, in Vancouver, BC. Sparrow credits her grandfather, Ed Sparrow, who lived to be 100 years old and remembered the forcible removal of the Musqueam people from Stanley Park, with giving her "300 years of stories" that grounded her in her heritage and enabled her to hear the voices of her ancestors. "We never stopped dancing, we never stopped singing, we never stopped practising our cultural ways," says Sparrow, who considers herself a person who lives and practises traditional ways.
Installation view. Photo credit: Rachel Topham Photography