Dyani White Hawk at Portland International Airport
Blessed to Be is a newly commissioned large-scale mosaic mural by Dyani White Hawk (Sičáŋǧu Lakota) recently installed at Portland International Airport’s concourse B and C ticket hall (pre-security).
A core methodology in White Hawk’s research and design processes for Blessed to Be was honoring the land and people surrounding present-day Portland – tribes including Siletz, Wishram, Klamath, Chinook, Wasco, Warm Springs, and Paiute – as they intersect with the histories, aesthetics, and practices of her Lakota tribe and relatives.
The mirrored hourglass form — kapémni in Lakota — is the basis of the composition, which speaks to balance and our connectedness between land and sky, earth, and spiritual realms. The sacred and beautiful Mount Hood is represented in the center of the mural by a circle made of triangular reflections adorned by capes created for and worn by people – a Paiute practice, as well as the artist’s husband and relatives’ Quechan practice. The cape on Mount Hood represents the snow capped mountain, the sun, the moon, and the people.
Along the top and bottom of the mural are triangular patterns that represent Mount Hood’s foothills. Their patterning honors the legacy of basketry from the region as well as Lakota beadwork, while the day and night skies are reflected and intersect with one another as a way of showing the continuum of cycles that sustain all life.
The right and left sides feature blues and greens to represent the Pacific Northwest region’s rich woodlands. More kapémni in blues and reds are made of thousands of hand-cut shapes to represent multiple Indigenous materials and art forms that speak to the rich history of contemporary and pre-colonial trade that has informed the artistic legacies of this continent. Artforms represented include beadwork, weaving, basketry, porcupine quillwork, and dentalium shells – the latter of which the Lakota tribes have notable trade histories from the Pacific Northwest.
Commenting on the meaning of the title and intention of the mural Blessed to Be, White Hawk writes, “Each and every one of us are blessed to be part of the beautiful cycles of this life. We are all held by our common mother, the land, under shared skies, and within galaxies and spiritual realms far beyond our comprehension. When we stop to deeply consider the intricacies of our ecosystem, our world, our galaxies, and their interconnectedness, we remember the profound web of life—the magic—that makes all life possible. In Lakota, we honor this understanding with the phrase Mitakuye Oyasin, meaning All My Relatives. I pray that we remember our interconnectedness as we move through this gift of life with and alongside all our relatives.”
See mention and images of Blessed to Be at the Portland International Airport in coverage by Jamie Halle for The Oregonian.