Maria Rose Sikyea

Whitehorse, Yukon

Caribou Hair Tufting/Quillwork

Maria Rose Sikyea is a Young Dené mother living in the Yukon who thrives to advocate for healthy choices and connection to her Dene heritage. She believes most of humanity has forgotten that everything comes from Mother Earth, thus her desire is to inspire people to reconnect with their tribal ways through connection to the land. Maria works with materials harvested within nature’s cradling arms. She has been tanning hides for over 10 years and began her search to return back to her ancestral ways at age 15. She is on a prayerful journey to reclaim her family’s lineage and thus decolonize through traditional ways of living. She has been teaching various skill-building workshops for 11+ years and is passionate about the “natural way” of her athabaskan people traditions. She hopes to inspire youth to continue their connection/reconnect with their cultural background, in light of the future of
our earth experience, as a whole.