Ul’nigid’

edition of 44, 2020. published at the Women's Studio Workshop in Rosendale, NY.

Ul’nigid’ was uniquely made to honor my maternal Grandmother, Martha Reed-Bark. She was the first figure i looked up to and learned from. She took care of my entire family in numerous ways and had a special connection with each of my family members. The book is titled Ul’nigid’ (Cherokee translation: strong) to represent her being and her spirit. 

Ul’nigid’ is a poetic narrative of my personal memories of her. I made this book with the intention of sharing the spirit and story of a traditional Cherokee medicine- woman/basket-weaver whose first language was Cherokee. She had a special role in my life, in my family and in my community, one that shouldn’t be forgotten. The book was always intended to be a family heirloom, something that each of my family members can look at to remind them of the strength that she carried and passed on to each of us. Surprisingly, when I started the production of this book, I found out I was pregnant, so this book also became a tangible way to connect my grandmother with my child. Knowing that I was carrying a child inside of my stomach also influenced the poetry of this book. I wrote each poem, like I was speaking to my growing child, Kila. 

Ul'nigid' is a moveable book structure that is able to take on multiple renderings with each opening. When closed, the cover shows imagery of my grandmother along with the title illustrated in English and the Cherokee Syllabary. On the back cover is an opening that gives the viewer a glimpse of the woven bottom of the basket that is on the inside. The entire outside casing of the book is hand-made paper created specifically for this book, at the Women’s Studio Workshop. The entire imagery on the front cover was letterpress printed using photopolymer matrices.

When opened fully, Ul’nigid’ mimics a basket. The book has walls that unfold to a standing position as four sides of a basket. The movable walls and base of the book were created using weaving processes similar to those of a traditional Cherokee river- cane basket but were woven with paper instead of river-cane and white oak. The design of the paper- weaving is my own creation and was inspired by the podcast, Broken Boxes. As I listened to several episodes of the podcast, I started to dwell on myself, and my art practice and the design came to fruition. The design represents the energy of my indigenous lineage as well as the urge to break out of boxes that a colonized society puts my identity, culture, and art into. 

Inside of the basket lies an accordion fold pamphlet that includes 5 poems that have been letterpress printed using Bembo metal type along with accents of Cherokee syllabary* metal type printed across the bottom of the pages. Each poem is a memory, but each poem is also a way to pass on the essence and stories of my grandmother to my son. The poems all share themes of home, language, healing, love and lineage. 

Ul’nigid’ was such a blessing to make and is a demonstration of love and remembrance, wherein each technical process portrays both strength and delicacy; These characteristics echo the communication between my own contemporary Indigenous voice with the deep influential voice of my traditional Cherokee grandmother. 

*The translations to the Cherokee Syllabary type are:

1. gvgeyu, kila - i love you, kila. Kila means finally but in this instance is referring to my child. 

2. uwenvsvi – home 

3. gawonihisdi – language 

4. nuwoti – medicine 

5. gvgeyu, agilisi - i love you, grandma