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Hi, my name is Sho Sho Esquiro. I’m from Tu-Lidlini Yukon,
that’s Ross River. I’m Kaska Dena, Cree and Scottish.

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My Kaska name is Belelige and I’m super honored to be here.

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So these are pieces from various different years.

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These two are my newest pieces and they’re pieces from my overall

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collection that I call Doctrine of Discovery.

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So they’re dealing with different things
that First Nations people are going through in the current times.

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This piece here is called Molly and it’s inspired by,
I was asked by my adopted auntie,

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whose auntie actually attended residential school and died there.

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And so what’s happening right now,

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I think it’s really important to put names and faces
to these children to really honor them in a good way.

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So it was important for me to include that in the collection.

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And it’s made out of home-tanned moose hide from the Yukon.

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And so a lot of love and care and preparation
went into making that hide.

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And I got it from another adopted auntie, Margaret Duval.

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And so it was one hide that we used, and there’s other pieces within the collection, but these are the two pieces that we used.

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This piece is called Land Back,
and I’m super excited about this piece.

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I always say, this is my favorite piece.

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So I created this piece
and I used a lot of different materials within the piece.

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So as mentioned, it has home-tanned moose hide, acid washed lamb, carp, beavertail, water snake, fox, dentalium shells, porcupine quills,

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birch bark, copper, black raw diamond,
platinum, obsidian, seed beads.

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And I also like to deconstruct and recycle materials.

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So there’s a little bit of carpet on there, from a carpet sample book.

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And the ostrich feathers in the back.

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So I like to use traditional techniques,
but apply them in a contemporary way.

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And so I this is a good example of something that might have been

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traditionally worn and coming into, you know, here and now.

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I think this would be a really awesome outfit
for any Indigenous woman to walk in to a meeting or like shopping.

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And it just kind of shows that our culture is fluid
and we’re still here, we’re thriving and existing.

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So this next piece
here, I’ll just talk about these three pieces in the front.

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This one is two pieces together,

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and the jacket is actually a deconstructed jacket,

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leather from my grandpa, my late grandpa, his favorite jacket.

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But it’s called, the jacket is called Pope Francis.

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And years ago, when Pope Francis denied an apology
to Indigenous people, that was kind of my message back.

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And so that collection was called No Apology Necessary.

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So I’m the first generation to not go to residential school.

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So again, it was really important for me
to talk about that ugly history of Canada,

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because it’s not necessarily taught in schools, or to people
that are coming new to the country.

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I think it’s really important to talk about that history.

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And so on the back,
there is a picture of Pope Francis upside down and

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for me, it was a sign,

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you know, when people put a flag upside down and it shows distress.

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So that was my message.

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Not so much of disrespect,
but more of showing that we’re a distressed people.

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And also that whether — although now this is a couple of years later,
we have received an apology, which is great,

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but at the time my message
was whether we do get an apology or not,

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I don’t think it’s healthy to wait around for
something that may never come.

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And it’s really up to people individually
to find that healing within themselves.

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So it’s really beautiful now that, you know,
there has been an apology and that can hopefully eventually help

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people heal. And also bring awareness.

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Although I will mention, I think it’s unfortunate

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that Pope Francis isn’t coming to British Columbia on his visit.

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The skirt is a collaboration that I made with my dear mentor
who’s passed away.

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Her name was Clarissa Rizal, and she was

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a master Chilkat Weaver from Alaska.

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So I’d like to point out, since I’m from the Yukon
and I’m Kaska and Cree,

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we don’t do Northwest Coast art,
so I don’t do Northwest Coast art.

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So this is a collaboration with my mentor that is Northwest Coast.

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And so we took, this is her design and this is a good example,

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I don’t typically throw away any scraps.

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And so that whole skirt, the leathers were made
of just scraps that I’ve kept over the years.

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And then, just to talk a little bit about the materials. So we have stingray, beaver tail, calf hide, bullfrog.

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There is deer hide, moose hide, cow hide, lamb and

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so these are all things that have been repurposed,
like old leather jackets or scraps of things

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that I’ve previously used.

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And then the belt that’s attached
is all hand embroidered with 24k gold.

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And so it was really exciting to use my mentor’s fabric
and to create that.

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Unfortunately, she passed away before she got to see it.

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So it’s really a special piece and I think it works well with the Pope Francis.

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So I just want to really thank everybody for having me to be a part of this beautiful show and amongst all these other talented artists.

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And thank you, Sógá sénlá’.

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