• 

Grandmother

“Growing up in Tacoma, my entire life allowed me one certain luxury – a view of Mount Rainier. This majestic mountain has long been known as a provider for the Native peoples of Puget Sound. What inspired this image was a quote from a Puyallup leader of the early nineteen hundreds. His words were:

“The Puyallup had loved their grandmother Takopid, the mountain, even as Tacoma loves her now…Takopid fed them and her other grandchildren, the Yakama, through her rivers, the Puyallup and the Yakama, which she kept always supplied with life-giving fish and clear, cold water.”

-John Hote (Puyallup: 1915)

Another source of my inspiration was a comb carved from antler, which depicts two wolf-like figures that meet over the mountain top. The mountain itself has a face carved within it, which most likely represents its spirit. Our oral histories tell of another related story, by which the mountains here were once sisters but now are part of the land. The rich beauty of the land, the stories of our culture, and the changes that surround us today give me a feeling of connection, knowing that my ancestors were inspired as I am today by that same mountain that gives us so much.”

-Shaun Peterson / Qwalsius