Artwork copyright Roin Morigeau. Photo courtesy of the artist.

Artwork copyright Roin Morigeau. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, by Dennis Dehart, 2021.

Artwork copyright Roin Morigeau. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, by Dennis Dehart, 2021.

the water remembers no. 1, 2018

Roin Morigeau
American (born 1984)

Location: Kamiak Elementary, Pullman

About the Artwork

Artist Roin Morigeau (Flathead Salish) created the water remembers no. 1 as a response to watching “United by Water.” The movie shows the first Tribal canoe journey and gathering at Kettle Falls since the Ceremony of Tears in 1943. Morigeau began to think about creating “a body of work that could hold the complexity of grief + pride the film left me with… these pieces are as much a prayer as they are a protest; a temporary memorial to beckon our deity the chinook smli salmon back home to our river.” This artwork is part of a curated collection by RYAN! Feddersen (Okanogan and Arrow Lakes) at Kamiak Elementary, Pullman School District, in Eastern Washington. RYAN! drew inspiration from the school's namesake, Chief Kamiakin, and his five wives. Her curated collection honors the essential and often under-recognized role that matriarchs play in history by highlighting Indigenous artists whose work connects with activism, collaboration, resistance, and community building.

This artwork was acquired for the State Art Collection in partnership with Pullman School District.

About the Artist

Morigeau is Séliš, French, Scottish, stʕámiyaʔ (Two-Spirit) and lives in unceded Spokane territories in Eastern Washington where they were raised. After a spinal injury in 2010, they began making work as a form of protest and healing.