NARRATIVE: This painting is of a young girl from the Alaskan Athabaskan tribe. The Athabaskan artisans are renowned for their intricate fur sewing, leatherwork and beadwork. She holds an Alaskan doll made of leather and fur that was mine when I was young. I grew up in Alaska and, although I do not have native Alaskan blood, I did grow up surrounded by the culture, art and history of the indigenous people of the area and greatly admire their culture. It is important to me to represent the heritage of the Alaskan people through my paintings and in Western American art exhibitions to give a voice to their stories and shine a light on their heritage where I can.

I returned to Alaska as an adult and professional artist and spent time with people from the various Alaskan tribes, hearing their life experiences, painting them from life and photographing them for future paintings. This girl is wrapped in a reindeer skin holding the doll that I remember holding myself as a young girl. We as people come from many different, unique, varied and beautiful cultures, but deep down we are all relations.