Blind to the Truth, Held by the Ancestors
Client:
Year:
2023
This piece reimagines Lady Justice through an Indigenous lens, exposing how justice in Canada has long been uneven, obscured, and denied to Indigenous peoples.
The red cloth covering her eyes represents a system deliberately blinded to truth—truth about stolen children, residential schools, and the ongoing violence against Indigenous women, girls, and Two-Spirit people. It speaks to laws that were written without Indigenous voices and enforced without consent.
The red handprint across her face is a mark of resistance and remembrance. It honors the MMIWG movement, symbolizing both the silenced cries and the refusal to disappear. It is a reminder that these lives mattered—and still matter.
The sash crossing her body represents colonization: imposed systems, fractured identities, and the weight Indigenous peoples were forced to carry. Yet it also shows survival—culture still worn, still visible, still alive.
In her hands, the scales of justice hang unevenly, reflecting generations of imbalance—children taken, families broken, truths buried. Around her, birds rise as messengers between worlds, carrying prayers, stories, and the voices of those who were never heard in courtrooms.
Sage appears within the piece as quiet protection and prayer—a sacred medicine for cleansing, truth-telling, and healing. It reminds us that while justice systems may fail, Indigenous ways of knowing continue to offer restoration, balance, and guidance.
This work is both a confrontation and a call:
to see what was hidden,
to remember who was taken,
and to demand a justice system rooted in truth, accountability, and respect.
Every life matters.
The truth matters.
