Canoe Family
“The warm and loving embracing of our daughter, during the shoot, reminds me of what it must have felt like for her in the womb. Looking at this image of us all snuggled in the canoe, I see unconditional love, and parents who will do anything to protect her.
As an indigenous mother, it is my job to eliminate the effects of colonialism by being the one that ends intergenerational trauma that has passed down from generation to generation in Native communities. Raising my children in a loving environment, ensuring they know who they are, and where they come from, having healthy parents and a strong family. It is my job as an indigenous mother to nurture, love and teach our traditional ways, to ensure our culture will continue to be passed down to future generations. We chose to give our daughter the traditional name that I carry, Dem-I-Thia, it comes from a strong line of matriarchal women, seven generations back in my family. This is a name carried by my Grandma (Vera Lane) who is with us today, to teach and pass down knowledge to Demi. Within the next year we will be preparing a naming ceremony, to officially introduce our daughter as Dem-I-Thia to the people and the ancestors.” Hye’sh’qe -Renae
I wanted to photograph the family inside the canoe to convey the profundity this vessel has on the lives of the Lummi people. It is used for transportation, for fishing, to connect the tribe across inlets, ceremony, and for competition. It is a symbol of the survival and prosperity of Salish traditions. On the tip of the canoe is Raven’s headdress, which one day passed down to his children." --Zoe Urness
Zoe Marieh Urness is an award-winning Alaskan Tlingit photographer whose work focuses on Indigenous communities. Drawing on her own childhood experience growing up with her traditional Tlingit culture, Urness is deeply passionate in sharing Indigenous narratives.
Zoe received her Bachelor of Arts from Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara, CA and has presented work at Art Basel Miami, The Heard Market, the Santa Fe Indian market, and included in Mia’s exhibition Hearts of Our People: Native Women Artists. She has also had exhibitions abroad in the United Kingdom as well as a traveling show in Russia. Urness is the recipient of the 2022 Sony Alpha Female+ grant, in support of her project, Indigenous Motherhood.
10 x 10 with decal edge
11 x 11 in frame
-Hahnemühle printing paper
-Clearly defined felt structure
-Matt premium inkjet coating
-Museum quality for highest age
Canoe Family
“The warm and loving embracing of our daughter, during the shoot, reminds me of what it must have felt like for her in the womb. Looking at this image of us all snuggled in the canoe, I see unconditional love, and parents who will do anything to protect her.
As an indigenous mother, it is my job to eliminate the effects of colonialism by being the one that ends intergenerational trauma that has passed down from generation to generation in Native communities. Raising my children in a loving environment, ensuring they know who they are, and where they come from, having healthy parents and a strong family. It is my job as an indigenous mother to nurture, love and teach our traditional ways, to ensure our culture will continue to be passed down to future generations. We chose to give our daughter the traditional name that I carry, Dem-I-Thia, it comes from a strong line of matriarchal women, seven generations back in my family. This is a name carried by my Grandma (Vera Lane) who is with us today, to teach and pass down knowledge to Demi. Within the next year we will be preparing a naming ceremony, to officially introduce our daughter as Dem-I-Thia to the people and the ancestors.” Hye’sh’qe -Renae
I wanted to photograph the family inside the canoe to convey the profundity this vessel has on the lives of the Lummi people. It is used for transportation, for fishing, to connect the tribe across inlets, ceremony, and for competition. It is a symbol of the survival and prosperity of Salish traditions. On the tip of the canoe is Raven’s headdress, which one day passed down to his children." --Zoe Urness
Zoe Marieh Urness is an award-winning Alaskan Tlingit photographer whose work focuses on Indigenous communities. Drawing on her own childhood experience growing up with her traditional Tlingit culture, Urness is deeply passionate in sharing Indigenous narratives.
Zoe received her Bachelor of Arts from Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara, CA and has presented work at Art Basel Miami, The Heard Market, the Santa Fe Indian market, and included in Mia’s exhibition Hearts of Our People: Native Women Artists. She has also had exhibitions abroad in the United Kingdom as well as a traveling show in Russia. Urness is the recipient of the 2022 Sony Alpha Female+ grant, in support of her project, Indigenous Motherhood.
10 x 10 with decal edge
11 x 11 in frame
-Hahnemühle printing paper
-Clearly defined felt structure
-Matt premium inkjet coating
-Museum quality for highest age