The Woodland Ten

#26.1
acrylic on canvas
40 x 40 in.
41 x 41 in. (framed)
The Woodland Ten is the story of ten Chickasaw artists and historians who traveled together to our ancestors’ homelands in Tupelo, Mississippi, just before the pandemic began. While there, we visited sites where our ancestors were buried. I saw my grandfather’s (seven generations ago) burial site. We climbed a mound, sang, and wept, as remnants of us gathered to remember. I came home and painted for the next several years in tribute. We Chickasaws are here, and we remember. The painting is about the early celebrations before the removals.