Background:

Amber Webb is an artist and tribal member from Curyung, Alaska also known as Dillingham. Her art draws from careful study of Yupiaq historical accounts, graphic styles and traditional symbols. It is heavily interconnected with as the Wood-Tikchik lake system; an area that is and always has been Native Land. It is also based in research of Yupiaq lifeways and a practice of community cultural wellness and recovery.

Description:

Yup'ik people live in relation to the water systems in Southwest Alaska and all the animals that depend on them. Migratory birds are an important part of our seasonal food system and their feathers and bones are used in tool making, dance regalia, and spiritual masks. Fish are and have been integral to our lives and survival since time immemorial. Today, it is more important than ever that indigenous people are supported in stewarding the animals that have sustained us by caring for the lands and waters that we are born from to maintain healthy ecosystems. These designs are inspired by Yakuluq - birds and Sayaq - fish depicted in Yup'ik graphic art that was used to mark bent wood items and tools with soot or ochre. These designs are examples of the immense and intimate ecological knowledge of Yup'ik people and serve as reminders of the collective responsibility shared by all of us to respect all things - the basis for Yup'ik values.