To confront this fear, I sought wisdom in the places of ancestral life, listening to the truths of relatives, Elders, friends and peoples who have traversed this land before me.  At the social, cultural and environmental contact zones of my Indigenous and European ancestors I set out to study and collect their knowledge and to animate and re-tell it in a personally transformative process through photography  

Many places I visited hold particular meaning for my direct ancestors as they are sites of significant moments in their lives; I was drawn to the sites of ancient stories across the central and southern Canadian Prairies and to the shores of early settlement in the Canadian Maritimes. My aim was to reconnect with those who came before me as a way of introducing myself to the land on which they lived.

I came to see these landscapes as immense time capsules of buried knowledge. As Immense as the Sky is about walking these ancient paths, experiencing the diversity of panoramas, and learning about my ancestors’ wisdom. The resulting images are a blend and collapse of time into the present. The stories of kayas (long ago) and the foreboding whispers of the future intertwine my body with the land, in the hope that we all maintain a long-term ecological equilibrium with the world around us.

ka-isi kiskēyihtamahk tānimatahtwaw ka-miyāskatamahk ispayiwin wiyastāw itāhkōmitowin isi ēkwa mīna ka-isi nisitohtamahk kēhciwāk kī-taskiynaw. ni-nākatohkāmatowin ispayiwin ohci pē-ohcipayin nīswayak āniskostēwin nisitohnākwan isi mācihtāwin—pēyak itowahk pimastēw isi mēskanās ēkwānima āniskostēw āh-āyītaw kiskinohtahēwin anohc ohci, ēkwa kotak itowahk aya kāh-kīhtwām mīna tahki. ōma āsowahonān ohci askiy itāpisiniwin ka-kī-awāsisīwiwiyan aspin ohci pē-ohcipayin, ayis ni-kī-nihtāwikin nīswayak isi wītisānīhitowin nakahpēhanohk mīna nēhiyānāhk.

ka-māmitonēyihcikatēk ispayiwin ēkwa misahci nāh-nāway isi pimātisiwin kāh-kīhtwām kāwi ita kayās mistassini (misi-asiniy), sputinas (kaskatināw), wiyacahk (posiskatināw), ēkwa mīna ayakowawacha (yēkawaciyanihk) ohci mihkināhk ministik pē-osīhcikatēw pēyakwan kīsik kakwāyaki-ispīhcāw. ōhi māmitonēyihcikēwina ni-miyikon māmaskātēyihtamowin, māka mīna koskonam pīhci-niya astāsiwin mēcimwāci kiyānaw ōma ka-māmawohkamahk tōcikēmakana wakīc kī-miyo taskiynaw.

ta-mawinēhaman ōma astāsiwin, ni-nōcihtān iyinīsiwin ita kayās ni-wāhkōmākanak ō-pimātisiwiniwaw, ni-natohtēn tāpwē-ācimowin niwāhkōmākanak ohci, kiskēyihtamakēwiyiniwak, nitōtēmak, ēkwa mīna ayisiyiniwak ka-kī opapāmācihōcik ōta askīhk pāmwayēs niya. Ita otōtēmiwin, pimācihowin, mīna pisiskēyihcikēwin itēhkēskamik ohci nakiskātēn ni-wīci-nēhiyawak ohci mīna opītatowēwak kayas ni-wāhkōmākanak ni-māci-wāpahcikān mīna ni-māwacihtān wiyawāw ō-kiskēyihtamowina mīna ta-pimātisihtāman mīna ta- ācimostātitaman tipiyawē pītosi-isi sāpo masinipayiwina.

Beckoning a connection to the history and culture of this place.
Seeking those who came before.
A childhood home.
Nohtâwiy.
Longing.
A place that has experienced times of peace and struggle.
Carrying ancestors.

Place: Mkisiw-wacîhk (Red Pheasant First Nation), Saskatchewan

ē nitonikātēk ta mistowinamihk osci kā kī ispayik ēkwa sihcikēwin osci ōta.
ē nitoniwēhcik kā kī pē nīkānohtēcik.
awāsisi wīkowin
nohtāwiy.
Kaskēhtamowin.
ēta kā kī wāpahtamihk pēyahtikēyimowin ēkwa ayimohowin.
ē tahkonēhcik kā nīkānohtēcik.

tāntē: mīkisiw-wacīhk (Red Pheasant First Nation), Saskatchewan

A long time has passed.
The young buffalo child fell from his parent’s travois during travel.
Found and raised by the bison people.
One day he had to choose between his human and bison families.
He could not bear to be with only one, so he chose to become mostos awasis asini for eternity.
The sacred stone, mostos awasis asini, rests in the lake.

Place: Mostos awasis asini (Buffalo Child Stone), Lake Diefenbaker, Saskatchewan

kayās āsay kī pē ispayin.
aspin ana paskwāwi moscosis nāpēsis kā nihcipayit onīkīhkwa otāpācikanīhk kā pimācihocik.
ē miskawiht ēkwa ē ohpikihikot paskwāw mostosak ayisīniwak.
pēyakwā ispayik ta nawasōnāt wītisāna otayisīnīmak ahpo paskwāw mostosak.
pokwātam namôya wītisāna ē kī nawasōnāt, itasiwēw ta ispayit mostos awāsis asinī kākikē.
ana kā māhtāwisit asini, mostos awāsis asinī, atāmipīhk apōw sākahikanihk.

tāntē: mostos awāsis asinī (Buffalo Child Stone), Lake Diefenbaker, Saskatchewan

Dunes of ancient lakes.
Glacial meltwater,
changing landscapes,
covering over previous lives.
A place once rich with life,
otchak ka sâkowet voice.
Rooted in an ever-present distant time.
Always erasing and rewriting.
A trove of hidden wisdom and experience.

Place: Yehkaw wacihk (The Great Sandhills), Saskatchewan

ispacināsa osci kayāsi sākahikana.
miskwamīy tihkitēwāpoy,
mēskocipayiki askiya,
kayās osci ki pimātisowiniwa.
ēta mihcēt kīkwaya kā kī wīkicik,
otchak kā sākowēt pihtākosōw.
kayās osci wāhyaw tipahikan.
nayistaw ē kāsihkātēk ēkwa kāwi masinahamihk.
ēta kā kācikātēki iyinīsowin ēkwa kiskēhtamowin.

tāntē: yēhkaw wacīhk (The Great Sandhills), Saskatchewan

Networks of trails and waterways leading to sacred sites,
seasonal meeting places,
hunting and gathering areas.
A place crucial to social links with other nations.
A place undamaged since the Younger Dryas.
Ancient kisiskâciwan.
Distant storm.
A fearful apprehension of impact in this moment of environmental history.

Place: Minahtakahk (Cypress Hills), Conglomerate Cliffs, Saskatchewan

mihcēt mēskanāsa ēkwa sīpīsisa itohtēmakahki mahtāwinohk,
ēta kā nakiskātohk ta mācīhk,
ēta kā kiyohkātocik pītosi iyiniwak.
ēta kā mistēhtākwahk osci kiyohkēwina kotak iyiniwak.
ēta namôya ka pīkopitamihk osci kayās.
kayāsi kisiskāciwan.
wāhyaw māyiwēpan.
kostamihk tānsi ē wī mēskocipayik nīkānihk askiy.

tāntē: minahtakahk (Cypress Hills), Conglomerate Cliffs, Saskatchewan

Travelling into unknown land.
Birds as companions and guides.
Retracing ancestral steps.
On paths walked many times.
Great migrations across land and water.
Connecting with kinfolk.
On journeys that lead here. 
Time passes by in cycles.
On journeys leading to my being.

Place: Gore Bay, Manitoulin Island, Ontario

pimācihowin ēsi askiya mōy kā kiskēhtamihk.
pēyisīsak niwīcīwākanak ēkwa itohtahikēwak.
kayāsi osci tahkiskācikanēwina.
mēskanāsihk kā pimohtēhk mihcētwā.
mihcēt misi pimācihowina sāpohtēhk askiy ēkwa nipīhk.
nakiskawihcik wahkōmākanak.
ēta pimācihowina ōta kā takohtēmakahki.
tipahikan māmēscipayin tāpitaw.
pimācihowina itohtēmakahki nitahcikohk.

tāntē: Gore Bay, Manitoulin Island, Ontario