Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory artist Kory Parkin’s design has been selected by Indigenous Proud – a new clothing company working directly with Indigenous artists to showcase their work – to be turned into a t-shirt and hoodie in honour of Indigenous Peoples Day (June 21).
Parkin is a proud Kanyen’kéha (Mohawk), who is a member of Kenhtèke Kanyen’kehá:ka (Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte) and grew up and continues to live in Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory.
“I cannot stress enough how excited to am to be part of the Indigenous Proud family,” Parkin said in a release. “They have been so supportive of me and my work and continue to work directly with me to help find ways to not only promote me as an artist, but to also showcase my community and my people. You can never truly know who you are or what you’re capable of until you understand and respect where you’ve come from. I’m proud of my culture and my people and I just hope this opportunity also allows me to showcase how amazing our people are. Without the love and support of my family, friends and my community I wouldn’t be where I am today.”
The tops are currently available online (Walmart.ca) and will soon be available at the Belleville Walmart with updates to come from the Napanee and Kingston stores.
“Indigenous Proud, to me, is not just about celebrating who you are and your culture, but to understand and respect where you’ve come from,” reads a statement by Parkin on the Indigenous Proud website. “This is why for my piece I chose to build it around the Kanienkehá:ka creation story. The story speaks of how the sky woman fell from the sky and was caught by the water birds who brought her to the turtle’s back. From there, she used the roots from the Tree of Life she grabbed to create the land we live on today. I chose to include a family (Kahwá:tsire) because to Indigenous peoples, family gives us the strength we need to thrive and prosper as we stand united. The colours I chose were purple, the colour of the Iroquois; red, which represents courage; orange, representing regeneration; lastly, I chose yellow to represent power and wisdom.”
Parkin has some other exciting projects in the works, so to stay up-to-date, please follow him on Instagram at @parkin613 or like him on Facebook at Paints by Parkin.