We were lucky to catch up with Jalynne Geddes recently and have shared our conversation below.
Jalynne, appreciate you joining us today. One of the toughest things about progressing in your creative career is that there are almost always unexpected problems that come up – problems that you often can’t read about in advance, can’t prepare for, etc. Have you had such and experience and if so, can you tell us the story of one of those unexpected problems you’ve encountered?
More often than I’d like, my anger is what gains traction. I’m not an angry person but like a lot of people, I get frustrated at this world. I get frustrated at the systems that continually work against us. And as a form of expression, I’ll write or create something that is born from that anger, and it seems to gain the most traction. I think it represents where a lot of us are right now, emotionally, and have been for the past few years. It’s not a bad thing to feel and express anger, but I don’t like how anger can turn into currency. That’s not a currency I want to invest in all the time. It’s not sustaining or life-giving. It’s good to feel and release those real and uncomfortable emotions, but I don’t want to live there all the time, so it’s troubling when people gravitate to my anger and not to my hope. Because my hope is how I thrive. But I think that’s also the challenge we all have – letting our hope be what rises to the top. I know a lot of people get sucked into living in the sorrow and anger, instead of letting it be what sparks our actions forward into change. And art creates change, but it’s just the key. We’re the ones who have to use that key to walk through the doors it opens. If I want to exist anywhere, I don’t want to be stuck at the anger; I want to exist in the doors it opens.
Jalynne, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
Most people have a story of how they found their craft, but I can’t say I have a clear starting point. I also can’t say I’m the one that found my craft. I was born into it. As Cree women, my mum always taught me that my journey didn’t start with me; my journey began a long time ago, with my ancestors. Beadwork is something that my community creates with, so I can’t say I ever really found it. It’s always been here. My uncle used to design my mums powwow regalia and my mum used to bead it. I feel like I’m just continuing their stitches.
Being Indigenous often feels like I’m piecing together my history because colonization tried so hard to fracture us, I’m piecing together and continuing my ancestors stories and legacy. I’m proud to do that for them. I was asked to contribute beadwork to Rutherford Falls and Resident Alien, and I’m proud of that, but I’m most proud that beadwork is still vibrant at all. I’m proud that Indigenous beaders and artists lift one another and try give one another opportunities. And I’m honored to pass these traditions to my children.
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
I think the biggest driving force behind my creative journey are my ancestors. I want to make them proud and I want my children to know them. Nehiyaw people have strong oral traditions, so I explain as much as I can to my children. I want to carry on our traditions and heal some of the pain they might have felt. I create with a lot of intention. Even if I’m beading just to bead, I’m making sure that my fingers never forget the memories.
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
One of the biggest lies we are told is that we don’t owe each other anything. It’s almost become a refrain of empowerment. I am tempted to still feel that way sometimes because it’s hard to unlearn self-centered tendencies. But community is one of my Cree values. Just because we should not require or be extractive of one another’s labor, it does not mean we are islands. Understanding community is a lifelong goal that I’m not sure anyone has mastered. We owe one another our humanity and theirs. We owe our ancestors our joy but also continuing their good work. So when I create, I try and work through feelings of frustration and turn it unto hope. I want to understand a bigger picture, not to prove someone wrong, but to prove to myself that there is something for me to learn. Even if all I’m learning is I can’t change anyone except myself.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nehiyanahk/
