All music composed, arranged and improvised live by Michelle Sylliboy (spoken word), Lindsay Dawn Dobbin (drums), Nicholas Dourado (piano) and Johnny Mrym Spence (synthesizer). Recorded by Dario Lozano-Thornton at Paul O' Regan Hall, K'jipuktuk, Mi'kma'ki for Everyseeker Festival/Obey Convention 2019. Mixed and mastered by Dario Lozano-Thornton and Nicholas Dourado. Purchase the album, and support Michelle’s work here.

Komqwejwi'kasikl, or Mi’kmaq (L’nuk) hieroglyphs, are part of a complex communication system sustained by L’nuk as long as they can remember. Translating roughly to suckerfish writings, which refers to the paths suckerfish leave on the river bottom as they move, Komqwejwi'kasikl is a symbolic language that was used by L’nuk for inscribing maps and tribal records — each character representing a concept that can be expressed through the the oral and written (phonetic) aspects of the language. The trauma of colonization has impacted L’nuk culture, fragmenting knowledge and creating an interruption in the number of L’nu who speak the language. With loss of language comes loss of worldview and the way of relating with all kin, including the land — the origin of language.

Thankfully paths remain, and L’nuk artist — Michelle Sylliboy — walks these paths through her practice to engage in dialogue with the land, ancestors and cultural memory. Her creativity is an active relationship that listens to and honours the animacy of the land and culture of Mi’kma’ki, as well as the knowledge within. Michelle Sylliboy approaches the L’nuk hieroglyphs as a “continuous hermeneutic discourse.” Through poetry, photography, sculpture and pedagogy, Sylliboy seeks to reclaim her Indigenous voice and the L’nuk way of life through tracing the lines and messages of the culture in the land and language—recognizing that the land speaks to us if we choose to listen.