Written in the Earth

Written in the Earth reflects a foundational Coast Salish understanding: that people, land and spirit are indivisible, and that the landscape itself holds memory and power. In Coast Salish teachings, the world is shared between humans, animals, plants, rocks, ancestors and spirit beings who move between visible and invisible realms, including the sky, sea and underground worlds.

The work references the powerful Transformers—ancestral siblings who travelled the land shaping rocks, trees and animals. Through their actions, spiritual teachings were embedded directly into the earth, making the landscape itself a living record.

The title was inspired by Musqueam weaver Deborah Sparrow, who after hearing Pierre Trudeau say, “I don’t see it written anywhere that the land is yours,” replied internally: “It is written in the earth. Everywhere we open the land, our history is there.”

The piece consists of four symbolic panels, each representing a world culture. At the centre of each is a human face, flanked by birds that signify celestial bodies: