Seattle Rein
Oil, aluminum and tape on canvas
2024
65 x 93 inches
It doesn’t take an atomic bomb to become death, destroyer of worlds. This Seattle political landscape painting is a memorial to the post-colonization loss of local ecological integrity. Fragments from Chief Seattle’s famous speech (ver.1) are buried by the American Flag—societal respect and connection to this land disregarded for profit and environmental commodification. Ghosts of the clear-cut old growth forest haunt Seattle’s skyline and Space Needle. With a collapsed dorsal fin caused by toxic water, a Southern Resident killer whale surfaces under heavy grief of Tokitae and the other 275 Orcas who were taken from the Salish Sea for the commercial amusement of settlers. Salmon run throughout the painting with an uncertain future as 14 populations of steelhead trout, Chinook, coho, chum, and sockeye in Washington State are listed as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act. Due to development and habitat destruction, the last known reindeer (‘Rein’ in Norwegian/ wild caribou) was captured and placed with a herd in British Colombia, officially making reindeer extinct in the lower 48 by 2019. Traditional ways of life that depend on maintaining a healthy ecosystem are at risk as multiple species are pushed to the brink of extinction.
Proceeds from this piece will go to Chief Seattle Club.
“Imagine a world without homelessness.. Chief Seattle Club is a Native-led housing and human services agency. We believe that a world without homelessness is possible by leading with Native values. We provide sacred space to nurture, affirm, and strengthen the spirit of urban Native people.”
Here in King County, between 9% and 15% of the homeless population identifies as Native or Indigenous. Demographically, they constitute only 1% of the total population. In 1850, King County was 100% Indigenous.
