.jpg)
Speplól Tanya Zilinksi
Tanya is a person, who is a visual artist, Halq'eméylem teacher and matriarch of their family. They are a member of The Red River Nation with maternal family and ancestral ties to Anishinaabe, Cree, Dakota and Huron-Wendat Nations throughout Turtle Island's Plains and Great Lakes Regions and is Ukrainian Paternally. Maternal family names are, Chartrand (double), Lagimodière (double) and Cadotte. One of their traditional names is Speplól, which means Little Crow and was a name given to them at the age of fourteen.
They were born on and grew up on the stolen lands of the Chowethel People, Ts'qó:ls, which is the Halq'eméylem name for what is known to settlers today as “Hope, B.C”. Their medium is traditional Indigenous loom beadwork and the retelling of oral stories and teachings through patterns laid out on beadwork tapestries. They were taught to loom bead at 15 years old by a Stó:lō Elder in their community at Chawathil First Nation. Speplól has developed methods and techniques through experimentation for creating large loom beaded tapestries made from tiny glass seed beads. They currently teach Halq'eméylem for Fraser Cascade School District and is a certified teacher of the BC Teachers Federation.