A single land acknowledgment for the Indigenous people of what is now known as Chicago would not be sufficient. There are complex histories that need to be unpacked to properly address the unceded lands of those people. Each nation deserves its own physical land acknowledgment, along with its land back. This piece is called ukwé·tase (newcomer/stranger) in the Oneida language. It reinforces the notion that we are all strangers somewhere, working on land that is not our own. A portion of Indigenous knowledge presents the familiar coupled with the strange. There are lessons to be learned from pairing two things we know, such as animal and human becoming Deer Woman.

Here it is a house and an installation. In this regard, ukwé·tase presents Indigenous knowledge and its lamination of fact (familiar) and fiction (strange). Is it architecture, installation, sculpture, dwelling, land acknowledgment, or art? The answer is that it is all of it, in order to expand our understanding of what Indigenous architecture is. The piece deploys methodologies rooted in Indigenous knowledge: narrative, visions, and dreams are accepted as truths, like facts, science, and data. The piece is not intended to be indigeneity on display for the nonindigenous gaze but rather to be seen as a projective future for design, people, and culture. Addressing the artist’s role as an intervening designer—as a visitor, stranger, or interlocutor—ukwé·tase prompts individuals to reflect upon the Indigenous land they are on.

Special thanks to Current Projects