Lummi Artist Jason LaClair Unveils First Metal Piece at NWIC Lummi Library
Earlier this year, NWIC and guests gathered at the Lummi Library entrance to celebrate the installation of Lummi Artist Jason LaClair’s first metal working project. Through the generosity of Barbara Deloria, wife of the late Indigenous scholar Vine Deloria Jr., the piece was installed just before the College’s 20th Annual Vine Deloria Indigenous Studies Symposium in May.LaClair described the 400 lb steel installation as a testimony to the salmon and Coast Salish way of life.
“This piece is in tribute to the leaders standing up for sovereignty, Indigenous rights and protecting our culture and language for our future,” LaClair said. “This is about what we’re leaving for future generations, our ancestors, mother earth, her beings and our responsibility to care for them.”
The artwork uses the traditional colors of black and red that will protect it from rust. Black representing the warrior spirit and red representing a softer, loving side.“I’m really honored to have been asked to do this work. I trusted the Spirit and am thankful for how it turned out,” he said.
Northwest Indian College and the Native Environmental Science Department is proud to support LaClair’s work and growth as an artist. In Fall, the College was honored to become the home of his first official mural done on the Lummi Nation Reservation. The piece painted in Building 15 depicts the culturally and environmentally significant salmon and heron, which represent the work the department and students are doing.
You can see Jason LaClair’s piece at the Lummi Library entrance, located at the NWIC Lummi Main Campus at 2522 Kwina Rd., Bldg. 21. The Lummi Library is both the academic library for the College and a public library for the Reservation community. All are welcome to visit.
