Working on “Wild Rose” / Photo provided by Haley Bassett, photo credit: Rita Taylor, Banff Center for Arts and Creativity
Returning Spirit to a Land in Crisis: A Conversation with Métis Artist Haley Bassett
I first met Haley Bassett when she was a participant in this summer’s Kapishkum: Métis Gathering at the Banff Centre. She was beading during a panel; I was wearing one of my beaded jackets, and we naturally started chatting after the talk ended. I ran into her again during the Kapishkum open studios and asked her if she’d be interested in participating in a long-form interview for this magazine. At the time, it was a vague concept, one we didn’t yet have a name or a website for. Haley’s enthusiasm and support for our little idea was one of the catalysts that helped spur Li Isprii from concept to reality.
Haley is an interdisciplinary artist and her fascinating work blends mediums, including beadwork and textiles, crafting sculptures and installations that explore themes of identity, culture, land, heritage, history, labour, and place. This year, she was a finalist for both the 2025 Saunderson Prizes for Emerging Visual Artists and the Salt Spring National Art Prize. Her solo exhibition, “We Work With Our Hands,” opened at Galerie Nicolas Robert in Toronto on October 16th, and will be showing there until November 22nd.
— Jeremy Allard
An excerpt from the interview:
How did you learn what it meant to be Red River Metis, from a cultural perspective?
For me, it was a matter of learning to recognize what was before my eyes. I remember being told I was Métis from a young age. Like many people, I did not understand what that meant. It took a long time to understand that what was normal to me was “other” to most of society, and to work through deeply ingrained shame about my background.
My family tried to pass as white, but they did not fool anyone. Geographically and socially, they were relegated to the margins of society. My grandmother’s parents did not want her to marry my grandfather because he was an Indian. Fortunately, my grandmother had a rebellious spirit, and my grandfather cut a dashing figure on horseback.
Life in Fellers Heights was quite traditional. My grandfather and father raised horses and cattle. They were also skilled hunters, and we grew up eating wild meat and the beef we raised. I learned about bushcraft and foraging from my father. Horsemanship was a vital life skill, and my brothers and I learned to ride at an early age so we could help with the cattle…
