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Chief
Lady Bird
Chief Lady Bird is a Chippewa and Potawatomi artist from Rama First Nation and Moosedeer Point First Nation, who is
currently based in Rama. She graduated from OCAD University in 2015 with a BFA in Drawing and Painting and a minor in Indigenous Visual Culture. Chief Lady Bird’s art practice is continuously shapeshifting, and is always heavily
influenced by her passion for empowering and uplifting Indigenous folks through the subversion of colonial narratives. She utilizes her social media platform(s) along
with digital illustration, acrylic painting, mixed media portraits, and murals to centre contemporary truths and envision Indigenous Futurisms by portraying intersectional Indigenous experiences and asserting our presence on stolen land. Specifically, much of her work is based on the
stories we tell through the reclamation of our bodies and sexuality, which often intersects with land sovereignty and language reclamation, and activates peripheral dialogues
about cultural appropriation, reconnection to land based knowledge and various forms of love (self love, lateral love, ancestral love). She hopes that her images can be a catalyst for reimagining our relationship with the land, each other, and ourselves. Chief Lady Bird has illustrated for notable organizations such as Flare Magazine, the Art Gallery of Ontario, Scholastic, Audible and Vice News to name a few.
In 2019 she provided the illustrations for the animated video “Land Acknowledgements And Why Are They Important” by Selena Mills and Local Love, which has been circulated widely throughout many educational institutions to guide educators toward a deeper understanding of Land Acknowledgements and their cultural significance. Shealso created the book cover design for Cherie Dimaline’s The Marrow Thieves UK release (and has created book covers for several Indigenous authors across turtle island), and designed the #IndigenousPeoplesDay Turtle Island emoji for Twitter in 2018, which is set to be re-released in June 2021. In 2019, Chief Lady Bird illustrated the Scholasticchildren’s book Nibi’s Water Song authored by Sunshine Tenasco of Her Braids, which is being released in the US in Fall 2021. This book follows the journey of a youngIndigenous girl who fights for clean water for her community. As quoted by Quill andQuire: “Tenasco writes openly and honestly about the unequal treatment of Indigenouscommunities in Canada. Nibi’s song conveys the powerful message that clean water is abasic human right that should be afforded to everyone regardless of their ethnicity. Thebook successfully functions as a catalyst for an important conversation between parentsand children.”
Email: chiefladybird@gmail.com | Instagram: @chiefladybird
Twitter: @chiefladybird | Facebook: chiefladybirdart
* These are examples of their work, some which may not be for purchase. In addition to new custom works. *
Land Recognition
We recognize the traditional and ancestral lands of the Haldimand Treaty on which we have the privilege of gathering. To the Anishinaabeg, Haudenosaunee and Neutral First Nations, whose presence continues to enrich our communities both culturally and spiritually, thank you for your stewardship in helping us to foster an inclusive territory on which we live, work and play. May our presence today (and herein after) be one of unity and kinship, as we move forward in reconciling our history as a community and as a nation.