Every year imagineNATIVE commissions an Indigenous artist to create an image for our Festival Tote Bag. The Tote Bag is offered to all delegates attending the Festival and is also available to purchase as part of our official Festival merchandise. The production of the bag is supported by Miziwe Biik.
Hazy, 2024
Hazy figuratively represents the feeling of mid-summer, when we are long past planting our seeds and now watch them grow in abundance, patiently anticipating the season of harvest to come. It represents the short moment of relief when we can finally see the benefits of our work, knowing this moment won’t last long. It represents the inebriating feeling of gratitude, of reflection and pause for our life in between the chaos. Hazy pushes our Indigenous relatives — who are all seedkeepers in their own way — and encourages them to keep going, to stay grounded, and to find those moments of gratitude amongst the difficult work they are faced with.
Alanah Astehtsi̲' Otsistóhkwaˀ (Morningstar) Jewell (she/her) is a passionate, proud, and self-taught Indigenous artist. She is Bear Clan from Oneida Nation of the Thames, grew up off-reserve, and currently lives in Kitchener, Ontario. She specializes in digital illustration, acrylic and oil paintings, and murals, but also loves practicing beadwork, stained glass, and 2D sculpture. She finds inspiration in the natural world, in cultural teachings and Indigenous ways of being, and in the small moments that make us human.