Artist Statement

The cover art for Pulling Together: Manitoba Foundations Guide (Brandon Edition) was created by Emery Knight and based on the piece Pulling Together  by Lou-ann Neel, a Kwakwaka’wakw artist. In her words, Lou-ann was “inspired by the annual gathering of ocean-going canoes through Tribal Journeys,” and “intended to represent the connections each of us has to our respective Nations and to one another as we Pull Together.” Emery Knight is an Anishinaabe Artist who grew up in the Parkland and Brandon areas who respected Neel’s voice and story as a guide to reflect his vision of Indigenous Peoples in Manitoba.

The end of the birch bark canoe bleeds off the page to represent the space that there is for everyone on this journey. The river flows from the foreground to the background, from left to right, and ebbs back and forth to express the journey’s path into the unknown, and acknowledges the organic nature of it. The only way forward is together, guided by our grandmother and grandfather’s teachings of the land.