The Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission hosts an annual Healing Run along the great lakes. Our Kwepack has participated in the run for over 5 years. We consider it a huge honor to bring a part of our story of running for our Life to this year's T shirt design. This year has brought focus onto our Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women in incredible and beautiful ways. This year has also brought incredible focus onto Native wellness and onto our Indigenous Running Group the KwePack and the power of taking control of our own narratives. As the trump era and treaty rights tension builds our communities face threats we had hoped and worked to extinguish. The Healing Run runners...
To celebrate the return of the Omashkooz, the elk, the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission asked Howes to create a piece of art to celebrate. Howes took the woodland style and combined it with her Ojibwe floral aesthetic to create Omashkooz and Return of the Medicines. Here the omashkooz and her descendant carry the medicines which also return as part of a healthy ecosystem, healthy people, and healthy living. These medicines feature prominently in Howes' contemporary floral designs. "Our florals are meant to tell a story. They tell about our medicines, our foods, and our way of life. This is why I utilize the beloved wild rice, ode'imin (strawberry), blueberry, raspberry, maple buds (maple syrup), dogwood flower (for traditional...
