The Story of Nlaka'pamux Blackwork
The Story of Nlaka'pamux Blackwork
Nlaka'pamux is the name my Indigenous community collectively gives to ourselves as Indigenous peoples who call home the territory that spans the Nicola, Thompson, Fraser and Stein Rivers, this style of tattooing is named after my community. Nlaka'pamux Blackwork is a contemporary ceremony created to assist you in building a better relationship with yourself, it is a journey that supports your sense of belonging deep within. In the broadest sense a ceremony is a process that is created to build a fuller relationship with something. This skin marking ceremony has been created for you to build a better relationship with yourself. It is a form of bodywork that supports your growth as a human being and is only part of your health and healing journey.
Nlaka'pamux Blackwork is open to all, Indigenous and non-Indigenous people willing to take this journey.
My Journey to Nlaka'pamux Blackwork
In 2010 I began my journey into the world of my ancestors tattooing practices, and began searching for all I could find about the reasons we marked our skin, what the designs are, the tools and technology we used and began to dream about what these practices mean for today's world.
My ancestors marked their skin for a multitude of reasons, each one an equally spiritual act intended to guide and influence the wearers life path. The first reason was solely for adornment, beautification and to make oneself more attractive. Secondly we marked our skin to show our love, care and commitment to our life partners, and as a prayer for a lasting union. We also marked our skin connected to our journey's into the spirit world to find our guardians. We marked ourselves to ensure a successful healthy life, as a from of protection, to record an important event, as a sacrifice to show courage and an offering and prayer for a desired successful outcome. We also marked our skin as a preventative measure against weakness and premature old age. Our skin marking practices are connected to dreaming and our guardians. We marked ourselves as a medicinal practice to cure sickness and ward off death. Finally it is recorded that we marked our identities on our skin to show who we are, what we are skilled at and where we get our power from.
After over a decade of observation, research and ancestral guidance I have intentionally transformed my skin marking practice over the past five years so that it aligns with the original principles, intentions, and process of my ancestors. As an ancestral skin marker and transformative blackworker I offer Nlaka'pamux blackwork as an embodied artistic technology for beautification, guidance, connection, protection, and healing. Nlaka'pamux blackwork is my gift to any and all human beings who need, desire and make the commitment to the work that it takes to enter into communion with this ancient practice.
Nlaka'pamux Blackwork: A Transformational Journey
In 2019 I began the process of developing a contemporary customary practice of skin marking (tattooing) that is rooted in my ancestors visual language, worldview and my understanding and development of ceremonies that celebrate and enhance the lives of all human beings willing to take the ceremonial journey of Nlaka'pamux Blackwork. I am translating Nlaka’pamux visual language into the creation of Nlaka’pamux tattoo bodysuits, full sleeves, back and chest pieces. This is an exploration of how our visual language can be stretched to fit the curvature and movement of the human form. The result is an innovation through the creation of a contemporary interpretation of Nlaka’pamux tattooing that mixes aesthetics from historic Japanese and contemporary tribal and blackwork tattooing genres. The creation of Nlaka’pamux Blackwork as an innovation and evolution of Nlaka’pamux tattooing is an answer to the question; how do I share this ancestral, cultural embodied artistic practice with those who are not Nlaka’pamux? These tattoos are for Nlaka’pamux and non-Nlaka’pamux, Indigenous and non-Indigenous collaborators. I say collaborators because taking on a big tattoo takes commitment and is a journey we go on together. Your life story, wishes and dreams for the future will be taken into account in the creation of your Nlaka’pamux Blackwork tattoo. Designs and motifs will be used in the transformation of your body into a work of Nlaka’pamux art, as a prayer, a declaration, and an embodiment of our ancestor’s resilience.
In ancestral times the receiving of a ceremonial and customary mark required the recipient to go on a journey, to sacrifice in some way and in some cases to pay a significant price to receive their marks. Today you may be required to journey to me to receive your mark, it may require the putting off of spending money and the sacrifice of material possessions or experiences in order to receive your marks. When the time is right and everything aligns we will be able to meet and begin the ceremony that has been set for you.