For too many years there have stood walls of glass which have separated us Rotinonshónni from our rightful access to Onekò:rha’ (wampum). As a fledgling wampum artist and story-collector, I create both historic reproductions and contemporary Kaión:ni (belts) and Oronkwáhsa (strands) which are meant to be handled and investigated as living documents containing our most precious words, values and experiences. 

I work on the loom with a variety of traditional and modern materials to recreate visual codes for the benefit of the People - so that we may search within each of ourselves for solutions to the many challenges we face as a collective. As I grow in my role as an artist, always I yearn to better understand what it means for us to be Onkwehon:we (Original People) and to live our days aligned in  Skén:nen (Peacefulness), Ka’nikonrí:io (Good-Mindedness), and Ka'shatsténhtshera (Strengthfulness) with one another and with all of the natural world. 

I could not do this without the encouragement of many elders and the many skillful artists who still today produce the most precious handmade beads for this work. The belts themselves are woven with my deepest respect for those who’ve passed on their gifts to guide us through this life; and so too one day, when I am no longer here, those coming generations will hold these materials in their hands and know truly that we their predecessors loved and cared for them so deeply. 

Tho niiorihwà:ke’

-Rohsennase Dalton LaBarge (Ahkwesashne Kanienkehaka, Bear Clan)