Taylor Dean

Portland, OR

Art on view at the Bellevue Botanical Garden, Admin building

Taylor Dean tsi dsdaʔ. pastəd čəd. spuyaləpabš čəd. ʔaciłtalbixʷ čəd. My name is Taylor Dean. I am Caucasian, I am Puyallup, I am Native American. The language I have written here is Lushootseed, the language of the Puyallup people. Whenever I speak even a single word of my mother language I am honoring how hard my ancestors fought so I could even be born in the face of extermination. My identity is a complex constellation and my body tells the story of colonialism in America. My artwork is a strategy for me to understand Puyallup culture in the face of assimilation. My duality and intimate knowledge of Indigenous experiences allows me to educate non-Indigenous people about the relationship between environmental exploitation and the impact on Indigenous people.

The Fishing War Go On

The Coast Salish people have been the protectors of the salmon runs since time immemorial. In return for their protection, the salmon give us life. This is why my people, the Puyallup tribe, have been fighting for fishing rights and for the safety of the environment since colonization. As long as corporations like Puget Sound Energy are allowed to build environmentally damaging facilities without so much as a consultation to the Puyallup people, the fight for the salmon will go on. This mural uses Coast Salish imagery to represent the Puyallup struggle to protect the Puyallup River and the Puget Sound from those who would extract profit from it without a care for the ecosystem.