Design Museum of Chicago

This commissioned piece for the Design Museum of Chicago, hosts of Annual Flag Day, lives among the various flags made by Chicago artists. I was born with intergenerational love and responsibility as a keeper to our Mother Earth. Learning always what it means to be a persistent, steadfast, creative rez kid in the face of colonization and its ecological affects every day. I was born to turtle clan from my mom and she from her mom and so forth immemorial.  We represent those who's core responsibility is to matters of the land. We are Earth keepers. With patience, initiative & care, the waters are flowing cleaner thanks to our many two & varied legged keepers of waterways. 
Federal laws like the 1972 Clean Water Act exist to remind and uphold the US government to protect and honor our reality where water is meant to be clean and to act with a mind that sees the human quality of life connected to Mother Earth’s ecosystems like our waterways. In less than 60 years our river otter neighbors had come home abound with life and play, swimming in every IL county after nearly facing extirpation.

However, in 2023, the Supreme Court removed federal protections that come with the CWA from our USA wetlands. It’s up to the states to regulate whether or not they will be protectors of our wetland waters. We’re all in it together.

More recently on a vote of 6-3, the justices overruled the 1984 decision in Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council. This case was a pillar in helping many admins create stronger environmental protections for the land and her people.

In Oneida's creation story, Otter is one of the first to try gathering soil from the bottom of water world. Although unsuccessful, Otter spurred us to continue trying to create a new world and thrive on the Turtle Island we know today.