nisitohtamowin  
(a nêhiyawin/cree word for understanding or self-in-relation)

nisitohtamowin is an audio piece that thinks through ‘getting to know’ or understanding by listening to the actions we carry out. This piece is a sister project to Allison’s Kiskisohcikew (they make things to make people remember) a performance that looks at the action of beading being used as a mnemonic device for language learning. nisitohtamowin expands on the connections between gesture and sound to create an introspective audio piece.

nisitohtamowin amplifies the sounds of beading to create larger gestures to seek understanding. This audio piece combines the sounds that filter through the window of Allison’s studio, amplified beading gestures and spoken thoughts. This piece gestures through thoughts of despair, longing, seeking connection, and missing family, language, and land. nisitohtamowin asks viewers to take time to listen and witness an attempt to understand through gesture.

The finished piece is a beaded code that connects to the recording, utilizing capitalist symbols to express something deeply personal, symbolic, and in essence anti-capitalist. How can we create a world that utilizes tools of oppression for our resistance as Indigenous peoples?

Carrie Allison is a Nêhiýaw/Cree, Métis, and European descent visual artist based in K’jipuktuk (Halifax, Nova Scotia). She grew up on the ̓ unceded and unsurrendered lands of the Sḵwxw̱ ú7mesh (Squamish), Stó:lō and Səlílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) and xwməθkwəyə̓ m (Musqueam) Nations. Allison’s maternal roots are based in maskotewisipiy (High Prairie, Alberta), Treaty 8. She is an active member of the arts community and is currently Co-Chair of the Eyelevel Artist Run Centre Board.

Allison’s practice is time intensive, repetitive, durational and thoughtful: she uses beading to connect with histories, narratives, relatives, and ancestors. Her practice responds to her maternal Nêhiýaw/Cree and Métis ancestry, thinking through intergenerational cultural loss and acts of reclaiming, resilience, and resistance.

Curated and commissioned by PAVED Arts.