MEAGAN MUSSEAU

In the [re]claim series, Meagan Musseau beaded names of Mi’kmaq locations onto dyed rabbit skins. The pelts are at once images and objects. By its shape and its geographical anchorage, the skin symbolically suggests the territory, thus also functioning as a representation. It is a (dead) body that broaches the territory as the very object of exploitation. Moreover, these skins function as objects of cultural transmission, embodying the existence and accentuating the visibility of these territories, Indigenous traditions, and the work done by these peoples. Given the destruction of resources (including natural and cultural), [re]claim generates a symbolic space for revitalizing the knowledge, language, identity, and cultural production intrinsically connected to the territory.