Indigenous Digital Artist Tsista Kennedy’s Art is a Career, a Storytelling Tool, and a Form of Self-Governance
The CN Tower and Rogers Centre sit next to a focal tree adorned with an eagle. The tree is rooted in a turtle surrounded by lapping waves. Many elements, in colours such as purple, yellow, green, and white, are outlined in eye-catching black. The striking mural by visual artist Tehatsistahawi (Tsista) Kennedy welcomed welcomed guests at a technology conference this summer. Before painting the piece, Tsista, a recent guest speaker at Northeastern University in Toronto, created it digitally.
While the work is just one of Tsista’s many commissions, it’s an example of how the Indigenous artist from Beausoleil First Nation and Oneida Nation of the Thames combines traditionalism with modernity in the digital realm.
According to Tsista, digital art is an avenue Indigenous artists can leverage to advance Indigenous data rights and create an environment where technology respects and actively supports their sovereignty. This is one of the topics Tsista spoke about on Sept. 25, when he participated in Northeastern University in Toronto’s event on the transformative impact of Indigenous data sovereignty.
The Embracing Indigenous Data Sovereignty in the Digital Age session was presented in collaboration with community partner, the Indigenous Friends Association (IFA), where Tsista is a digital illustrator and facilitator.
“Digital education, whether digital art, coding, or user experience (UX) design, is the new buffalo,” says Tsista. “Historically speaking, many Indigenous cultures in North America sustained themselves through hunting buffalo. There is so much the buffalo provided. Nowadays, we believe digital art can be a means for sustaining ourselves, which is why Indigenous data sovereignty is so important.”
Indigenous Storytelling Through Art Goes Digital
Today, Tsista primarily works digitally, but his love of art started through drawing with inks and painting with acrylics and watercolours. His earliest memories include sitting with his grandmother at the kitchen table, making animals from Play-Doh, and drawing animals in kindergarten. As he got older, art became a fixture, leading Tsista to sell his first piece in middle school. At 16, Tsista discovered digital art and taught himself the art form. Summer job savings went towards an iPad Pro, an Apple pencil, and digital painting app Procreate. A whole new world opened up.
“That’s when my art career took off because I didn’t have to spend so much money on art supplies,” says Tsista. “I had the freedom of as many canvases and colours as I wanted at any time. So, it was a lot more accessible, and I could create prints more quickly. I started getting into commissions, like creating logos and t-shirt designs for people.”
Since then, many organizations, universities, and businesses, including Scotiabank Arena, the Region of Waterloo, and Mastercard Foundation, have commissioned Tsista. His work brings attention to issues Indigenous people face, such as pipelines and the trauma of residential schools, and incorporates his identity.
“I’m grateful that both my parents were connected to their culture, and I feel like that’s been a very strong driver in my connection to creating artwork and portraying my stories and experiences,” Tsista says. “When we talk about Indigenous data sovereignty, reclaiming our culture, and ensuring that we have a place in the digital world, I think giving Indigenous youth the ability and the knowledge to create digital art is one of the best ways to ensure that we have a presence in those spaces. Passing on that knowledge comes to mind when I think of my legacy in this world.”
Digital Art and Indigenous Sovereignty
Tsista is building his legacy of Indigenous youth empowerment through art with his role at the IFA. A tech non-profit, the organization aims to bridge the gap between Indigenous heritage and digital innovation by focusing on education, tech development, and research.
Northeastern University in Toronto and IFA’s ongoing partnership includes various forms of engagement. In addition to the Embracing Indigenous Data Sovereignty in the Digital Age event, students from the university’s College of Professional Studies and College of Engineering have volunteered at IFA as tutors and analysts.
At IFA, Tsista teaches people of all ages.
“I think every one of my students is creating change and impact for future generations with their wide array of styles, unique stories, and accurate representation of Indigenous identity,” he says. “A while ago, I realized that composition and colour are great tools for an artist, but they shouldn’t be rules. Digital art is about recording our stories, perspectives, and identities. It is also a form of data sovereignty.”
Indigenous data sovereignty is most commonly defined as the ability of Indigenous peoples, communities, and Nations to participate in, steward, and control data created with or about themselves.
“It’s about us governing our data,” says Tsista. “That includes ancestry and genetics, identity, ecology, environment, health, and climate. With digital art, when I create pieces with animals, for example, they reflect ecological or environmental data. For equitable data practices for Indigenous communities to exist, companies and academic institutions must implement healthy boundaries that balance what they can do for us as Indigenous people and giving us the space to govern ourselves.”
Embracing Indigenous Data Sovereignty in the Digital Age was part of the university’s annual National Day for Truth and Reconciliation series. Past events have included Indigenous educators from Humber Polytechnic’s Indigenous Education and Engagement department sharing their lived experiences and an elder and Faithkeeper from the seated Spotted Turtle Clan facilitating a truth and reconciliation mental exercise.
In November, Northeastern University staff in Toronto and Vancouver will have the opportunity to participate in a virtual blanket exercise with Santele’s Healing Circles.
By Izabela Shubair