Tʼuyʼtʼtanat-Cease Wyss facts for kids

Tʼuyʼtʼtanat-Cease Wyss is an amazing artist, scientist, and community leader from Vancouver, British Columbia. She has a rich background, being part of the Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), Stó꞉lō, Kānaka Maoli (Hawaiian), Irish-Métis, and Swiss cultures. Her ancestral name, Tʼuyʼtʼtanat, means "woman who travels by canoe to gather medicines for all people." This name truly reflects her life's work.

Cease Wyss combines many different skills in her art. She works with visual art, fiber arts (like weaving), and ethnobotany, which is the study of how people use plants. She also loves storytelling and teaching her community. For over 30 years, she has explored new media and performance art. As a Coast Salish weaver, she uses natural materials like wool and cedar. She even uses plants to create beautiful dyes for her work. Cease Wyss also helps with beekeeping and gardening projects. These projects help communities and also clean up land that has been harmed by pollution.

Amazing Art and Projects

Cease Wyss has shown her art in many places, like museums and galleries. She has also taken part in big public art festivals. For example, she was part of the Vancouver Queer Arts Festival in 2017 and the Vancouver Biennale in 2016. At these events, she not only showed her art but also led fun educational programs.

Transits and Returns, Vancouver Art Gallery (2019–2020)

This art show featured 21 Indigenous artists. Their art was inspired by their cultures and their travels. Cease Wyss showed a piece called Shḵwen̓ Wéw̓ shḵem Nexw7iy̓ay̓ulh (which means To Explore, To Travel by Canoe). This artwork was a sculpture that included a special ceremonial cape, photographs, and natural materials. She used things like Lauhala, coconut fiber, seagrass, red cedar bark, wool, and beautiful abalone and mother-of-pearl shells. These materials are important to makers from both the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and Hawaiian lands.

x̱aw̓s shew̓áy̓ New Growth «新生林», 221A Semi-Public (2019–2020)

For 14 months, Cease Wyss worked on a special project in Vancouver. She turned an empty lot into a beautiful rainforest garden. This garden, at 271 Union Street, was filled with plants native to the lands of the Skwxwú7mesh, Musqueam, and Tsleil-Waututh Nations. She planted different berries and shrubs like ocean spray and kinnikinnick, and flowers such as yarrow and wild rose.

This project was based on "permaculture," which is a way of designing things that works with nature. It shows how all living things in an ecosystem are connected. This idea is a big part of traditional Indigenous knowledge, especially Coast Salish ways of knowing. You can even watch the garden grow! Cameras record the space 24 hours a day, and you can see the live video online.

Spill: Response, Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery (2019)

This project was a live research performance. It was part of a bigger art show called Spill. Cease Wyss joined other artists and educators to share their research. They did this through a series of workshops held at the gallery.

A Constellation of Remediation (2017–2019)

This was a two-year public art project. Cease Wyss and Anne Riley planted special gardens in empty lots across Vancouver. These "remediation gardens" used native plants to help clean up the land. This project also helped people learn about land care and how to heal the land. They worked with city staff and the public to build connections and raise awareness.

#callresponse (2016)

This art show featured five projects by Indigenous artists from Canada and the United States. The artists were chosen because they worked with their communities in many ways, from performances to ceremonies and new media. Cease Wyss was one of these artists.

Talking Poles, public art installation (2009)

The Talking Poles project honored a community conversation led by Cease Wyss and others. Two tall poles, each 4.2 meters high, were placed along a path in Surrey. These poles were created together by the community. They have words written in many different languages spoken by the people there. The poles remind us of the "talking stick," which is important in Indigenous storytelling traditions.

Books and Films

As author

Cease Wyss wrote a book called Journey to Kahoʻolawe. This book tells the story of how sacred land on the Hawaiian island of Kahoʻolawe was cleaned up and brought back to life after being used by American forces. It also explores the journeys of the Kanaka family to the Pacific Northwest Coast, and the histories of Hawaiian and Squamish communities.

As illustrator

She also helped illustrate a book called Squamish People of the Sunset Coast. This book shares the history and traditions of the Squamish people. It uses two special stories, "The Two Sisters" and "Mink and His Brother," to tell their tale.

Films and Media

Professional Groups

• Cease Wyss is a member of the Aboriginal Writers Collective West Coast.

Awards and Recognition

• In 2010, she received the City of Vancouver Mayor's Arts Award for her work in film and new media.

Residencies

• In 2018, she was the Indigenous Storyteller in Residence at the Vancouver Public Library.
• In 2017, she was an Artist-in-Residence with Leigh Tennant at Griffin Art Projects in North Vancouver.