Visual Arts
Jacques Néwashish
Les gardiens de la terre (detail)

We can see a detail of the embroidered squares on which four of the pieces are resting. They are simply sculpted, without details except for the expressions of the faces.
Les gardiens de la terre (detail) (Guardians of the Earth)
Jacques Néwashish, 2003
Chess game
Bark, elk leather and antlers, beads and embroidery thread
Thumbnail of L'homme suivra Thumbnail of Les gardiens de la terre Thumbnail of Cercle de vie, performance
Thumbnail of Les oies Thumbnail of Les gardiens de la terre Thumbnail of L'Enfant lumière

“A long time ago, all beings were spirits. The Earth already existed and was like a paradise. There were meadows, forests, lakes and rivers, as well as mountains that touched the sky. But no man and no animal lived there. The spirit who had created Earth wanted to protect it. He invented a game in which the clans faced off to determine which one would be Guardian of the Earth.”

Jacques Néwashish

In some Aboriginal cultures, the sky, or more precisely the Milky Way, is depicted by a checkerboard with a cross in each box. These crosses mean stars. Jacques Néwashish's chessboard is made of beads embroidered on an elk skin by a woman from his community. The game is played on this starry sky. The stylized pieces carved from elk antlers evoke some of the animals that shared the great forests with the Atikamekw.
  This board can be rolled up, with its pieces safe in their embroidered sack. The set fits into a bark basket decorated with floral motifs typical of Algonquian peoples. It can be easily carried in a canoe, along with the everyday objects the Atikamekw, traditionally a nomadic people, used during their seasonal moves.