This artwork features a tessellating design of salmon. Tessellation is a type of pattern that repeats without gaps or overlaps, creating a continuous flow.
The southern tip of Vancouver Island is unlike many other Salish territories. It has access to relatively few rivers that connect to salmon spawning grounds. This nutritional limitation led the Island's Salish people to innovate. To capture fish, they developed reefnet technology. Straits Salish nations mapped the salmon's migratory route around the southern tip of the island. This area included the west coast near Sooke and around to the Saanich Peninsula. With this knowledge, they were able to locate the shallowest waters along the path. This allowed them to capture salmon in 20 to 30 foot reefnets, a technology unique to the area.
This artwork is part of the Sacred Exhibition in City Hall, curated by Rose Spahan with the assistance of artist Eli Hirtle.
