Dire
Dire (the gallery exhibit) is a reflection of the Yukon River salmon! The salmon have been on a decline for over 10 years and the numbers are scary low. Salmon is a main source of food for First Nations for millennia, it has been difficult to not subsistence fish for family and community. Salmon is also an integral link to the environment in the life cycle. DIRE honours the salmon and is a reminder of what it means to First Nations.
This website was created to link information about the decline in Yukon river salmon to the 2022 Dire art exhibit. You will find information about the curator of the exhibit, the artist and information about why the salmon are in decline and what you can do to help.
“My grandmother, Violet McGundy, told me we are river people. We live on the river. We migrated up the river she said, long time ago. When you look at the river, it sustains life. If you look at the river, it sustains life. If you look at it, the way some First Nations describe it, it’s just like your bloodline coursing through this land and it’s nursing all the trees and the animals. You got all the watersheds coming into the river and these watersheds are in turn feeding animals and helping plants grow and things like that. They talk about it spiritually because it’s a growth, everything is moving.” Ronald Bill in Back to the River: Celebrating our Culture, Kwanlin Dün
Logo created by: Marie Spina and Arcane Perry