A Prince George artist is ready to debut a brand new exhibit of Métis artwork at the Two Rivers Art Gallery.
It is called Otipemisewak, which means The People Who Own Themselves.
In a release, the Gallery said the Cree gifted the Metis people with the name many years ago, to “acknowledge that their identity is not partly European and partly Indigenous; they are wholly their own.”
Erin Stagg, the exhibit’s artist, has tried to capture that idea in a series of acrylic paintings that detail Métis stories and her own family history.
According to Two Rivers, Stagg was born and raised in Fort St. James before coming to Prince George.
“Growing up in this area, I was never exposed to Métis stories. I didn’t know what it meant to be Métis,” she said. “There was a stigma to being Métis that stopped our stories from being passed down. This collection brings the stories of my family history to light and celebrates them in a loving way. My hope is that other Métis people might find a sense of kinship and love for their own family stories.”
The exhibit’s grand opening is tomorrow (Friday) at 7:30, and is free to attend.
It is open until May 7th.