Kaija Heitland and Indigenous Nouveau

My name is Kaija Heitland and I am a Métis and Scandinavian woman living on Vancouver Island, on the traditional lands of the Cowichan tribes. I belong to the Cowichan Valley Métis Community, and I am a card-carrying Métis citizen of MNBC (Métis Nation British Columbia).

I hunt, gather and participate actively in my community, teaching Métis fiddle and traditional art skills but never forgetting the rich Northern European heritage I also belong to. The Métis side of my family comes from the Hodgson lines out of the Red River. My people moved originally from Fort Albany and their occupations with the Hudson’s Bay Company and Northwest Company and then to the Red River, Ottawa River Valley (Lac les Chats) and then onto Thunder Bay to this day, where my family flourished, married into the Frost and Haavisto (Sami) family and continuing their land-based practices as trappers, hunters and loggers. They raised their mixed children in poverty but with wholesome, traditional beliefs and practices that respected both their Indigenous and Scandinavian roots. To the best of knowledge, our family never spoke Michif, but English, French, Cree, Oji-cree and Finnish due to their kinship and regional ties.

While I am not only Métis, but a representation of many different peoples, I do my best to respect and honour all of them and the richness of their art and culture and not tokenize any aspect of my heritage.

I actively make an effort to not take up space or opportunities belonging to First Nations or Inuit Individuals, and do not apply for Non-Métis or non-widely-Indigenous programs, grants, contests or opportunities. It is a small effort on my part to ensure that the resources that I have access to have been specifically allocated to the preservation, sharing and development of Métis material culture and do not contribute to the reduction in opportunities for First Nations or Inuit artists and people.

My lineage is also Sami (Indigenous peoples of the Northern parts of Scandinavia and the Steppes), Scandinavian and German, which I draw inspiration from in the work that I do. I try to create a real representation of who I am as an individual and as a mix of all of my heritage rather than one specific aspect on its own. I like to think of how I use the language of Métis beadwork and the vocabulary of Scandinavian and Northern European design to tell the story of all the people I come from.

Growing up in a proud Métis and Northern European family, I was born in Thunder Bay and grew up on the Sunshine Coast in B.C. and was surrounded by hunting, fishing, beadwork and sewing my whole life. I have been fortunate enough to support myself and my family with the skills I have learned from both of the communities that I lived-in growing up.

I have been professionally doing graphic design for 12 years, tattooing for over 18, as well as a lifetime pursuing my traditional skills in beadwork and quillwork and the connections that they have to land-based practices. I am also a silversmith and I focus on using teeth and claws, by-products of Indigenous Hunting traditions, to create one-of-a-kind pieces for my clients while highlighting the need for Indigenous voices in the dialogue for conservation and wildlife management and Indigenous food sovereignty.

Being a fiddler since the age of 5, I teach traditional Métis fiddling at our office in Duncan and we are always looking for new students to join our group! Please contact me at info@indigenousnouveau.com for more information.