Canadian Sovereignty of The Northern Lights 1
2005
Black wool stroud, smoke tanned caribou hide, beads, various materials
26 x 35 inches


Can we own Air? Space? Deep Space? And whatever within that space? Can we own water? And whatever is on top of, within, or beneath it? Should we?

In 2005, then Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s “Sovereignty of The Arctic Tour” was the Canadian Government's way of asserting that Canada had moral and physical rights to The North. This tour was in response to Denmark, Russia, and China planting flags and attempting to claim Arctic Lands and Arctic Ocean sovereignty.

Since no one had yet laid an official claim to the Northern Lights, I, as an Indigenous Person and Canadian citizen, claimed those Rights, for the good of Canadian People, in Perpetuity.

To register, legally, and to commemorate this historic event, I planted and sewed a Maple Leaf, cut from a Federal Government business card, within the Lights.

One Sky Claim, now registered and documented.

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