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

​​

A wonderer and wanderer, I am an interdisciplinary artist, designer, educator, and scholar based in Umoⁿhoⁿ, Ní Btháska (anglicized as Omaha, Nebraska). Fascinated with fashion, identity, and the healing power of beauty from a very young age, I see creation as an act of care. Working across mediums, I blur the lines and challenge the definitions of 'fine art' and 'decorative art.' Using material, texture, color, line, shape, pattern, and linguistics as language, I explore the stories held within our bodies, our relationships, and our histories. Weaving these elements together through textiles, adornment, traditional mediums, and digital technologies, I integrate my lived experience as a mixed-race urban Anishnaabe kwe into contemporary representation.

​​

Rooted in the 7 Grandfather teachings, Wisdom, Love, Respect, Bravery, Honesty, Humility, and Truth all guide my ways of creating, working, seeing, and knowing.

​

Ultimately aiming to foster kinship and dialogue, my work invites you into relationship: with learning and remembering, with self and each another, and above all, with the connections that unite us. Underpinning all that I do is the deep knowing that beauty is medicine.

​

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