MAP ART – SUMMER 2022

“MNI SOTA MAKOCE – MINNESOTA ICONIC ANIMALS“

Annette S. Lee, Summer Solstice Art, June 21, 2022

Map Art includes both place-based, geographical information and Digital art to communicate a visual style. This work tells the story of how Ojibwe celestial animals or constellations are mirrored or paired with their matching land animal.

The fundamental epistemology (or theory of knowledge) here comes from the Lakota teaching of Kapemni. (English translation ‘As it is Above, It is Below‘ Ref. Albert Whitehat Senior).

This work and art practice is built around a participatory relationship to Sky and Earth.

^{“Mni Sota Makoce – Minnesota Iconic Animals – Sky & Earth”, Digital Art, ©Annette S. Lee 2022, All Rights Reserved.}

Find some Ojibwe constellations:

Mooz, Ajiijak, Maang, Ojiig, Mishi Bizhiw (Great Panther) ….

Find some of their land partners’ MN iconic animals:

Moose,
Crane,
Loon,
Fisher,
Puma/Cougar…

^{“Anchored to Earth by Starlight – Miigwech Animal Nation Above and Below”, Digital Art, ©Annette S. Lee 2022, All Rights Reserved.}

Can you see :

The pairing between the Sky and Earth?
The Mississippi River? Where the Mississippi River starts and how it moves? Can you identify any of the other rivers in our state? What are the rivers where you live? What is their state of well-being and how might it relate to your own well-being?
The places in MN where the animals live?
- For example, which two animals are only found in the NW corners of the state?
- Which animal lives everywhere in the state?
- Which animal is so elusive that there are only ‘reported sightings’ that sprinkle the map?

Think more about:

Why are some missing their partners? What is the story?

How are maps embedded with cultural bias? What parts are told, and what parts are un-told? What are the reasons?

How has colonization affected our relationship with the sky? How many ‘star maps’ are widely known?

Learn more and Call to Action:

Visit the Native Skywatchers website to learn more about Indigenous Revitalization efforts connected to Sky and Earth.
Visit the MN DNR website to learn more about Native animals and Native plants and how they might be threatened and/or endangered.
What is our part in this (as two-legged), after all we carry the gift of wisdom…? See video teaching for more on ‘the Great Race-Children of the Four Relations…
What does it mean to be living at a time of extreme animal extinction? Read more here “UN Report and the Sixth Mass Extinction?

This sketch shows (in black) where the celestial-terrestrial animal lives in Minnesota. Think about how these ‘territory’ maps might be changing with the climate crisis worsening each year…

MAP ART – SUMMER 2022

IS PART OF THE ONE-YEAR PROJECT:

“ANCHORED TO EARTH BY STARLIGHT, ART AS SOCIAL PRACTICE”

Seasonal artwork and art practices created and shared in honor of each of the four sacred seasons:

Wetu, Ziigwan, Spring Equinox – March 20, 2022
Bl(d)oketu, Niibin, Summer Solstice – June 21, 2022
Ptanyetu, Dagwaagin, Fall Equinox – Sept. 22, 2022
Wanityetu, Biboon, Winter Solstice – Dec. 21, 2022

Note: The project name is a quote from the video I produced in 2021 called ‘First Memory’.

Quote *‘I was anchored to Earth by Starlight*‘, from *First Memory*, by Annette S. Lee, 2021, (1:33)

“I was anchored to Earth by Starlight” (1:33) -A. Lee 2021

^{Project: “Anchored to Earth by Starlight – Art as Social Practice”,}

^{Project dates are March 1, 2022, to Feb. 28, 2023.}

^{Funding by MSAB-Minnesota State Arts Board-Creative Support for Individuals.}

Annette S. Lee is a fiscal year 2022 recipient of a Creative Support for Individuals grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board. This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.