Nicole is a visual artist and member of the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) Nation. She was born and raised on the ancestral territory, Eslhá7an–also recognized as North Vancouver. Growing up, the idea of home has continuously changed with her life’s tides of historical realizations and understanding. Ancestral dance, ceremonies, and member gatherings have matured her knowledge in ways that directly connect to her practice as an artist whose work centres around rattle and drum making.

During the height of the pandemic, Nicole, together with her childhood friend Yuki Xu (@yuki__zyx), embarked on their project, Eslhá7an, a visual study which traces the racialized and cultural relationship between First Nation bodies and the infrastructural fragmentation of their land. In this short documentary, Nicole invites us to Eslhá7an, where she guides us through her practice and speaks about her identity as a young artist and member of the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Nation.

This is our first documentary project beautifully shot and edited by Balazs Horvath (@horvathbalazs), with the support of Alexa Fahlman (@alexaluvme) and produced by Gergo Farkas (@gergof).

Nicole’s work also appears in BROAD's most recent print issue: Home.

BROAD is grateful to operate on the unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and Sel̓íl̓witulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations.

This acknowledgment is a reminder of the discriminatory, genocidal, colonial practices and ideologies that have had a lasting legacy for Indigenous Peoples and their land.