Véronique Thusky

Véronique Thusky is a multidisciplinary Anishinabe artist from the community of Rapid Lake, Algonquins of Barriere Lake First Nation, in the Outaouais region of Quebec. She uses her voice and her language, Anishinabemowin, to tell stories and legends and pass on traditional knowledge. Véronique’s art is just one part of a larger project to raise cultural awareness that includes her work as a translator, interpreter and educator.

Before becoming a storyteller, Véronique Thusky worked with embroidery. She learned a great deal from her mother, who loved exploring colour in both embroidery and drawings. Her mother’s work was at once highly colourful and deeply thoughtful. Nature is another important inspiration for Véronique. Growing up, she loved observing the forms of plants and changing of the seasons. When she was young, Véronique’s father told her the stories and legends of her people. She remembers falling asleep to these bedtime stories: “If the legend was too long, we’d fall asleep, and the story would keep going in our dreams.” Because every community had its own version of these stories, getting the details right was crucial. It was a matter of respect.

The area where Véronique’s family lived was also a hunting ground, and a spirit of solidarity reigned. Like a large extended family, everyone shared everything. You had to make sure the whole community was ready for winter. This spirit of sharing has shaped Véronique Thusky’s entire career.

Véronique’s daughter is her pride and joy. Like her mother before her, Véronique is now teaching her daughter techniques to develop patterns and colours for embroidery and sewing. And her daughter has shown a natural talent for illustration and for making clothing. Véronique Thusky’s embroidery work marries a modern approach with traditional techniques, inspired by stories and legends. It has been shown in many important exhibitions. In 2009, Mikina, her drawing and embroidery on Japanese paper, was chosen to represent the Anishinabe constellations at the Montreal First People’s Festival.

Anishinabemowin is the ancestral language of the Anishinabe people. It is intimately connected to the land, and if you listen closely, you will hear the sounds of nature: animals, a flowing river, the wind in the trees. The language’s varied intonations make it highly melodic. It is also colourful, with concepts embodied in words in unique ways. Sometimes translating a single word from Anishinabemowin into English requires a whole sentence.

Véronique believes that to truly understand the spirit of a language, you first have to assimilate its mindset. Only then can you effectively say what you mean. Plus, the way languages are spoken is different from one community to the next. Intermarriage has shaped Anishinabemowin. But, despite these differences, Véronique believes we can always find a way to understand each other.

Véronique Thusky encourages children to strive to learn more, never to stop at just one thing. In a world where everything is connected, there is no greater wealth than diversifying our knowledge. When we broaden our horizons, we can see from new perspectives, and the whole world opens up to us.