Tamara Lee-Anne Cardinal is a mixed-media artist, community activist, and perpetual learner. Born in Lloydminster, Saskatchewan, she has been a visitor to Otôskwanihk/Mohkinstsis (Calgary) for the past nine years. Cardinal traces her ancestral roots back to both Nêhiyaw and Deutsch decent. Graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Sculpture from AUArts in 2015, Cardinal has since been a recipient of the National BMO 1st Art! Competition Award, the Alberta Foundation for the Arts Young Artist Award in 2017, and the Lieutenant Governor of Alberta Emerging Arts Award in 2020. Cardinal has been an active member in the urban Indigenous community within Treaty 7 Territory, activating roles through Awo Taan Healing Lodge Society, Native Counselling Services of Alberta, the Midewiwin Teaching Lodge Society of Alberta, and currently through Miskanawah’s Diamond Willow Youth Lodge. Cardinal’s work continues to be a reflection of the teachings she receives along her journey; it is an invitation for others to become a part of the process, to partake in its making.
Image: Tamara Lee-Anne Cardinal, Mekinawewin: to give a gift, 2019. Untitled Art Society. Photo: Katy Whitt Photography.
Image description: Five individuals stand around light coloured wooden chairs and a table covered with four large tupperware containers filled with paper pulp and water next to handmade wooden paper-pulling frames. Four people are listening to a lesson from the fifth about pulling paper pulp with a mold and deckle. The walls are white, with one main window showing backwards syllabics and various Indigenous languages on deckles.
Tobacco is one of the first offerings; it is given to Okâwîmâwaskiy, a gesture of respect for what she provides, before we take anything from her. After ceremony, one gives everything they can—all gifts—to those who bore witness. Gifts are one of the most important forms of exchange in Nêhiyaw culture; gifts are given always with a heart, full. 'Mekinawewin, to give a gift' began as a three month-long project by Tamara Lee-Anne Cardinal that focused on the role gifting plays in contemporary forms of exchange and has now become an ongoing work. Throughout several iterations of this project, Cardinal’s focus has been on hosting multiple workshops with various community organizations, families, and individuals. Throughout the workshops, conversations revolve around Indigenous histories and ways of knowing.
Images: Tamara Lee-Anne Cardinal, "Mekinawewin: to give a gift", 2019, Untitled Art Society. Photos: Katy Whitt Photography. Image description: overlaid black and white resource texts sprawled across a light coloured wooden table top, some of which read “Intergenerational Trauma”, “White Good Flying Report”, “Canada breached ‘duty of care’ in 60’s Scoop, judge”.
Image description: On a window sill, sits a package where a light brown coloured twine is gift-wrapped around several sheets of handmade paper, the first of which on top is a dark brown colour followed by a white sheet. Around the bow of the twine, is the name “Ryley” and the letter “3” written in permanent ink.