Kaija Heitland
Kaija Heitland
Métis, British Columbia
My name is Kaija Heitland and I am a Métis woman living on Vancouver Island, on the traditional lands of the Cowichan tribes. I belong to the Cowichan Valley Métis Community and was born in Thunder Bay. The Métis side of my family comes from the Hodgson and Denault lines and my other lineages are Sami, Scandinavian and German.
I have been a professional graphic designer for 15 years, creating logos, websites, branding packages and business coaching and work as an Indigenous consultant for companies and corporations working with them on protocol in how they engage with Indigenous artists and businesses. I have been a professional tattooer since 2007, as well as spent my lifetime pursuing my traditional skills in beadwork and quillwork and the connections that they have to land-based practices. I make both traditional regalia and modern couture pieces that reflect the fusion of my heritages.
In all my work, I focus on the need to reconnect to our traditional arts as a method for self-reclamation and strengthening kin-ship ties and our community bonds. These investigations into ourselves are essential to the preservation and evolution of Metis art and culture, and I focus on many different avenues including fabric, ceremonial items, moccasins, jewellery and regalia. I explore animal symbolism, plant medicine, and traditional foods in my work as these designs are an important part of our rich Métis culture of storytelling and the story of our place in the culture of Indigenous British Columbia.
I began my company, Indigenous Nouveau, as a platform to help to facilitate greater visibility for my community and the Métis who reside in British Columbia, to showcase our unique beadwork, quillwork patterns, arts, culture, and history. We are experiencing a renaissance in our traditional arts and I find that truly exciting. We, as a culture, are waking up and feeling our strength and vitality and it is wonderful to see that in the stitches and beads of our artisans.
In the past few years, I feel as though I have found my true calling in education, sharing and art communication. Currently, my main focus has been teaching traditional land-based arts, giving instruction on beadwork, quillwork and the teachings of the Ribbon Skirt and how to incorporate these teachings into our daily paths. I teach Indigenous entrepreneurship courses, incorporating Indigenous and community values into our every day lives as small businesses and provide one on one branding and business coaching to other Indigenous entrepreneurs.