Marjie Crop Eared Wolf

Marjie Crop Eared Wolf is a Káínai Secwépemc multidisciplinary artist as well as is an Indigenous writer, designer, and liaison. Her work is grounded in her intention to create art that expresses Niitsitapi concepts and values and contributes to maintaining their collectivity, stories and knowledge for young people and future generations.

To create her recent work Paahtómahksikimi – on permanent display at the Waterton Lakes National Park visitor centre – Crop Eared Wolf worked closely with knowledge keepers in her community and followed Blackfoot ceremonial transfer protocol to learn traditional harvesting and artistic methods, embodied in the incorporation of plants, earth pigment paints, and geometric motifs in the piece.

Iitsi’poyi conveys her continuing efforts to learn Niitsi’powahsin (Blackfoot language) from her mother. Her mother’s knowledge manifests in the thousands of words that Marjie incorporated into the large-scale drawings and also recited in the corresponding video recording.

Crop Eared Wolf has produced a remarkable number of commissioned works, which range from murals to photographs, maps, and installations in a range of spaces, including public museums, high school settings, Red Crow College, and a public library. Crop Eared Wolf says: “These projects gave me opportunities to engage diverse audiences and share aspects of Káínai culture in civic, educational, and art settings.”

Crop Eared Wolf combines her experiences as an artist and liaison to offer services to clients as a researcher, content developer and community consultant for various interpretive projects. Her professional experience and contacts include Blood Tribe, Parks Canada, Waterton Lakes National Park, Lake Louise, Banff, Jasper Indigenous Forum, Paahtómahksikimi Cultural Centre, Galt Museum, as well as the City of Lethbridge. She graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Lethbridge and received a Kainai Studies Certificate from the Red Crow Community College.

Crop Eared Wolf’s artistic and scholarly research benefits multiple communities. She has liaised on multiple projects and promoted respect for Kainai culture and the knowledge of Elders, while reviving language, developing indigenous curriculum, and collaborating broadly. Crop Eared Wolf is one of the most important and impactful emerging artists in Alberta today.

Dr. Lianne McTavish, Professor, History of Art, Design, and Visual Culture, University of Alberta