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HER STORY

Jaimie Davis (b.1983) is a Gitx̱san & Nisga'a artist, cedar weaver,  jewelry designer, sculptor and painter. Her Gitx̱san name is Xbiyee which translates to, "Infront of the village walking, cawing like the crow" and belongs to the Laxskiik (eagle) clan, house of Sakhum Hiigookh.

    Jaimie began as a cedar weaver in 2003 learning under Haida weaver Victoria Moody before launching her business in cedar woven jewelry design in 2013. 

 

She was the Artist in Residence at the Anhluut’ukwsim Laxmihl Angwinga’asanskwhl Nisga’a (Nisga’a Memorial Lava Bed Provinical Park, Visitor Info Center) during the summers of 2014 and 2015 as a cedar weaver and jewelry designer and then later went on to attend the Freda Diesing School of Northwest Coast art, Coast Mountain College in 2016. 

Jaimie graduated the 3 year Advanced Diploma program, learning traditional wood sculpture and design under the instruction of Dean Heron and master carvers Dempsey Bob, Ken McNeil and Stan Bevan while also taking business courses in her 3rd year as well as jewelry engraving under Arlene Ness. She graduated in 2019 with honours at the top of her class and was awarded the Lieutenant Governor’s Medal for outstanding achievement in her art and business studies. 

 

After graduation, Jaimie’s life as an artist came full circle. In the early fall of 2019, she was awarded a contract through BC Parks and Lisims government to design and paint a mural on the new and improved Nisga’a Memorial Lava Bed Provinical Park, Visitor Info Center, the same building that helped launch her career in cedar woven jewelry design 6 years prior. It was completed by June 2020.

 

You can view the mural here.

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Growing up in Terrace BC, I faced a lot of racism to the point that I didn’t realize it was racism. It was accepted and “normal” behavior while my culture was never celebrated. I questioned who I was as a First Nations, Indian, Native, or whatever we were labeled as the following year…But since stepping on this path as an artist, it has allowed me to free myself from the colonial construct and to learn my history. I picked up that pencil and started rewriting my own as I reclaimed my identity as an Indigenous woman. Being a single mother, it is my mission to create a space where my son can grow up without ever having to question his identity. I create to keep my culture alive.

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