Aanii, ndinaawamagaanadog! Maygabow Ogidajew Kwe, nindizhinikaaz. Gaa-waabaabiganikaag ndoonjibaa, Migizi ndoodem. Hello, all of my relatives! My name is Woman Standing on Mountaintop; Valerie St. Pierre Smith is my English name. I am a descendant of White Earth, and I am Eagle clan.

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An interdisciplinary designer, my practice thrives at the intersection of materiality, identity, and relationship. Using color, line, texture, shape and pattern, as language my work communicates the deeper stories held within our bodies, communities, and histories.

 

Rooted in the 7 Grandfather teachings—Wisdom, Love, Respect, Bravery, Honesty, Humility, and Truth—they guide my relationships with materials, collaborators, and audiences. Weaving these elements together, I construct tactile visual and spatial narratives reflecting both the enduring traditions of my Anishinaabe heritage and the evolution of a collective future.

 

I see creation as an act of care, aiming to foster kinship and reciprocity. My work is an invitation into relationship: to feel, to witness, to participate, and above all, to connect and strengthen the bonds that unite us in kinship.

 

A bit of a unicorn, I also engage in a very active creative research and scholarly practice which centers indigenizing and decolonizing western design practices, paradigms, and pedagogy.

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Interested in working together? Drop me a note, vsmithdesign@gmail.com, or follow me @valeriestpierresmith on Instagram!​​