Cherish Parrish’s The Next Generation – Carriers of Culture

Cherish Parrish inendaan booch igo gikinoo’amaagowaad weshki-bimaadizijig wii agogobinaaganikewaad mii dash aawechigaadeg aanjigowin gaye gashiwewin. Owii aanikoobijigewag - niigaan-izhiwidoowaad inakaaneziwin-ing, Parrish o’gii apikaan agogobinaagan ezhi naagwag aanjikweyan ge ganage niizhwaaswi daso-giizis oniijaanisinid dash izhi-chipiitendaagwag bagwaji-inaadiziwinan gaye izhitwaawinan. Giizhenindaagwadoon niizho-biitawinagek gaye naawitig moozhaginigaadeg Wiisagaakoog, o’ow gaa apikaadeg ge giiwitaapikang onadinigan gaye wiingashk biminapikang. Parrish ikido gishpin Anishinaabe-ikwewiyan, gibimiwidoon inakaaneziwin.

For Cherish Parrish, weaving is “a generational gift that needs to be passed on and . . . nothing . . . speaks to that quite like pregnancy and motherhood.” In The Next Generation–Carriers of Culture, Parrish combines the ideas of passing on traditional practices with honoring the legacy of Indigenous women by weaving a basket into the shape of a pregnant woman in her third trimester. Created from spring wood and heartwood harvested from black ash trees, this piece was woven around a handmade mold and rimmed with sweetgrass. “Being a carrier of culture,” Parrish says, “that’s what you are as a Native woman.”