"My people will sleep for one hundred years, but when they awake, it will be the artists who give them their spirit back." — Louis Riel
I never knew my great-grandmother, Alma Marie Parisien (née Normand), known to her grandkids as Grandma Joe. She died just eight months before I was born, but my mom was able to tell her I was coming before she passed.
When I showed my mom the beginnings of this piece, I told her I fell in love with this photo of Grandma Joe the moment I saw it. She looks so sure of herself—steady, powerful, unmovable. My mom laughed and said, “She was small, but you did not mess with her.” She loved watching pro wrestling, something my cousin is now carving out a name for himself in across Manitoba.
As I reconnect, I want to bring my ancestors with me, not as ghosts but as guides. I centred my grandmother and let Métis florals bloom behind her like wings—holding her up, holding her family up too.
Stunning. And such beautiful words. 🩷