Sharan Nikkel – Talking Sticks

$138.00

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SKU: 3686701

Description

Sharan Picks driftwood on the shores of lake Winnipeg and dries it. She keeps the original beauty of the wood, only using sand to get the dirt off. No pieces are ever broken, cut or shaped. She is inspired by the great spirit to paint what she sees in the wood.

She starts by painting the entire stick white, which represents cleanliness and the great spirit. She paints flowers representing the wild flowers of the beading circle. She paints the four medicines, Sage, Sweetgrass, Cedar, and Tobacco, berries used as medicine, leaves and leaf vines. Metis colours are painted in rings around the stick on one end. Dreamcatchers are added to ward off evil spirits, bells are added for beauty and sound.

Metis Colours:

Red: Blood of the Metis that was shed through the years while fighting for our rights.

Blue: The depth of our spirit

Green: Fertility of our Great Nation

White: Connection to Earth and our creator

Yellow: Prospect and Prosperity

Black: Dark period of the suppression and dispossession of the Metis land

The talking stick represents truth.

The talking stick is used in a circle as the speaker talks, the rest of the people in the circle listen. Only the person with the stick can talk. Everyone listens, no comments are made. After the first person is finished his speech, he passes the stick, and the next person speaks.

Additional information

Weight 1 kg

About the Artist

SHARAN NIKKEL

I am a Métis woman born in Portage la Prairie Manitoba. My grandfather Joseph Ducharme is well known for his Ducharme Decoys and has an exhibit in the Manitoba Museum Métis Section along with my uncle Duncan Ducharme decoys. I believe my passion and talent came from my grandfather after spending most of my youth in the village of St. Ambroise watching my grandfather and uncle carve and paint their decoys by the woodpile. I started painting when I obtained 14 Scared Stones from the First Nations Grand Chief Assembly where the sacred fire burnt. I have not stopped painting sacred stones. All my work is smudged and most of the time I can see an image on the stone of a bird, flower or animal, then I paint it with acrylic. That same year I was diagnosed with Glaucoma and Macular Degeneration at age 61. I want to continue painting because I believe I was given this gift from the Creator after I lost sight in my left eye. My Sacred Stones are in South Africa, Halifax to Vancouver, United States, New Glascow and though out Manitoba. My sticks are made from driftwood I pick from Lake Manitoba and Lake Winnipeg. I dry them, clean them and sand them keeping the shape and paint them the way Mother Earth laid them on the ground. I live in Winnipeg and paint in my home.  
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