Skawennati facts for kids

Skawennati is a First Nations artist from Kahnawake. She is famous for her art that uses computers and the internet, especially animated videos called Machinima. Her work explores modern Indigenous cultures and imagines what Indigenous life might be like in the future, often inspired by science fiction.

In 2011, she received an award called the Eiteljorg Contemporary Art Fellowship. This award recognized her as one of the "best and most important Native artists." She also served as an Indigenous Knowledge Holder at McGill University in 2019.

Skawennati helped start Nation to Nation. She is also a Co-Director of Aboriginal Territories in Cyberspace (AbTeC) with Jason Edward Lewis. AbTeC is a group of artists and thinkers who create Indigenous virtual worlds. Their goal is to make sure Indigenous people are present in online spaces, video games, and virtual worlds. AbTeC is based at Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec.

She is also one of the people who started daphne. This is the first Indigenous artist-run centre in Québec. She started it with Caroline Monnet, Hannah Claus, and Nadia Myre.

Early Life and Education

Skawennati, whose full name is Skawennati Tricia Fragnito, was born in the Kahnawake Mohawk reserve in Quebec. Many Mohawk artists live there. She grew up nearby in Châteauguay.

She studied at Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec. In 1992, she earned a degree in Design Arts. Later, in 1995, she completed a diploma in Arts Administration. After finishing her studies, her first job was at OBORO Artist-Run Centre in Montreal.

Skawennati's Art and What It Means

Skawennati uses new types of art, called New Media, to talk about history, the future, and change. She especially focuses on these topics for First Nations and Indigenous cultures.

She once said that there are many old pictures of Indigenous people. But often, in those pictures, they are silent and unnamed. Skawennati wanted to show something different. She wanted Indigenous people to be able to imagine themselves in the future.

In 2000, she created a project called Imagining Indians in the 25th Century. This work was part of an exhibition at the Edmonton Art Gallery.

CyberPowWow: An Online Gathering

One of Skawennati's first big online projects was CyberPowWow. This was an online gathering that happened several times between 1997 and 2004. It was often hosted by art galleries and centers.

The main idea behind CyberPowWow was to create an Indigenous space online. It was like a chat room that also worked as a digital art gallery. People could connect and form communities both online and in real life. It helped Indigenous artists and storytellers find their place in the digital world. Skawennati worked with other Indigenous artists and writers. They designed the online space with images, stories, and Indigenous characters (avatars).

TimeTraveller™: Journey Through History

Skawennati's animated video series, TimeTraveller™, is very well-known. It uses Machinima, which means it's made using video game technology. The series has episodes about important events in Indigenous history. These include the death of Mohawk saint Kateri Tekakwitha, the Dakota Sioux Uprising of 1862, and the 1990 Oka Crisis.

This project uses science fiction to explore these historical moments. It helps to challenge old ideas about First Nations people. It also aims to highlight how Indigenous art and people have sometimes been misunderstood.

She Falls for Ages: A New Creation Story

She Falls for Ages was part of her 2017 art show called Tomorrow People. In this work, Skawennati retells a traditional Haudenosaunee creation story. She uses science fiction, virtual worlds, and a feminist point of view.

Her version of the story has a futuristic look with bright colors. She created it using the Second Life program, which is a virtual world platform.

Selected Exhibitions

Skawennati's art has been shown in many places around the world. Here are a few examples:

• Storybook Story. Art Gallery of Calgary (2001)
• Close Encounters: The Next 500 Years. Plug In Institute for Contemporary Art, Winnipeg, MB (2011)
• We Are Here! Eiteljorg Contemporary Art Fellowship. Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian, New York (2012)
• TimeTraveller™. Niagara Artists Centre (2014)
• Memories of the Future. SAW Gallery, Ottawa (2015)
• Tomorrow People. Oboro, Montreal (2017)
• From Skyworld to Cyberspace. McIntosh Gallery, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario (2019)
• Game Changers: Video Games and Contemporary Art, MassArt Art Museum, Boston, Massachusetts (2020)
• Radical Stitch, MacKenzie Art Gallery (2022).

Awards and Recognition

Skawennati has won many awards, especially for her project TimeTraveller™. This nine-episode animated series uses science fiction to look at First Nations histories.

• In 2009, she won the Best New Media award at ImagineNATIVE for TimeTraveller™.
• In 2011, Skawennati was named an Eiteljorg Contemporary Art Fellow.
• In 2013, she won another Best New Media award with the AbTeC group for their work Skahiòn:haiti – Rise of the Kanien’kenhá:ka Legends.
• In 2015, she represented Canada at the Biennial of the Americas, a big art event.
• In 2020, she received a Smithsonian Artist Research Fellowship.