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The large, circular face in this Coast Salish design represents the adults in the family, while the small circular face represents the children in the family.

In Halkomelem, the Coast Salish language of my nation, one of the closest English translations for the word “love” is “to eat”. For this reason, the children within the family are rendered inside the mouths of the adults in the family.

Although this is a Coast Salish design, I have incorporated influences from the art traditions of other Northwest Coast First Nations in order to acknowledge the diversity of contemporary Northwest Coast native communities. The eyes of the adult in this design can be found on Coast Salish Sxwayxwey masks, as well as on ancient Ozzette artifacts from Washington State. I have also utilized influences from the Northern formline aesthetic principles for the two trigons which define the cheekbones on the adult face. The concentric circles around the design represent the dendrochronological rings inside cedar trees. The design is rendered in red and yellow cedar colors because both are found on Vancouver Island.

About Our Artist: lessLIE

My colonized, Catholic, Canadian name is Leslie Robert Sam. I am Coast Salish of Cowichan and Penelakut descent. My decolonized pen name is lessLIE.

Hitler once said that the bigger the lie you tell, the more people you can get to beLIEve in it. Hitler was about racism, genocide
and imperialism, which are political forces I am fighting against as a contemporary Coast Salish person.

I have a Bachelor of Arts degree in First Nations Studies from Malaspina University-College. I am currently attending the University of Victoria, pursuing a Master of Arts degree in Coast Salish art while getting M.A. credit for my artwork. I have been studying Coast Salish art for the past seven years. In the summer of 2001 I was a guest artist at Thunderbird Park Carving Studio, a voluntary position which I will be returning to in the summer of 2002 as a studio component of my Master’s degree. I am a relative of Susan Point, who has a strong influence on my work. I aspire to become one of the most ARTiculate Coast Salish artists of the twenty first Century.

The large, circular face in this Coast Salish design represents the adults in the family, while the small circular face represents the children in the family.