Indigenous Arts & Stories - Two Sides of Me

I made this print as a part of an assignment on identity in my art class. I am a 15 year old student from Attawapiskat First Nations. I am in grade 10 at Vezina Secondary School. I am a hockey player and a Cree. These are two things that are incredibly important to me and to my identity. While they are very different I feel that they come together in my own person. I made this art piece because sometimes it is difficult to be Cree in the greater Canadian society. It is much easier to be a hockey player. It is easier to only show one side of my person when I am outside my community but it is only one side of me. I also feel sometimes it is hard to embody the other side of me - the hockey side - when I am in traditional ways of life. It is hard for me to balance the two sides of myself but they are both really important. It is like a playing card - you need to have both sides for it to be whole. I equally need to be able to express both sides of myself to feel whole.