STORY - Wiinugamin

Wiinugamin (Bushfire)

The bush fires of January 2020 are represented within this artwork. The destructive and damaging way in which the fires swept across Country and devastated the lands. It represents the idea that had traditional methods of fire use been implemented, the hills around my home and the land in which me and so many other live, could have been saved. Fire as a tool is extremely powerful, but it must be respected, harnessed, understood. Or fire becomes the enemy. Fire was the enemy. A strength turned against us. We teach our young how to respect and understand fire. We couldn’t teach the powers, and the fire became the power against us.