Eliane Kistabish

A young Anicinape woman, mother, multidisciplinary artist and legend-lover, Eliane is from Pikogan’s Abitibiwinni First Nation. Born to an Algon-Cri father and a Québécoise mother, she grew up between her two families in Amos. A carrier of culture through her creations, Eliane holds a Bachelor’s degree in Visual Arts from Université Laval. She also won the First Prize and the Public Choice Award for an inter-university photography exhibition.

For many years, she was involved in promoting culture through the production of native crafts, and by travelling the Pow-wow route as part of her last job. Her seven years at the Val-d’Or Native Friendship Centre as a Youth Community Organizer gave her a better understanding of the issues facing aboriginal youth. She organized intergenerational arts and crafts evenings because, for her, the expression and practice of traditional arts are powerful bridge-builders, facilitating links in an informal context by bringing people of all ages together.

It was while watching the television series 8e feu : les Autochtones et le Canada, le sentier de l’avenir that she realized that her greatest desire was to help put an end to discrimination against Natives, and that she could make a significant contribution by raising public awareness with the help of appropriate training.

Today, she lives in the Laurentides region, where she works as a trainer on Native issues and as a project manager for the Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue.

All this involvement doesn’t prevent her from continuing to create jewelry, which can be found on her Facebook page Créations Eliane Kistabish. She makes her jewelry from moose antlers, porcupine thorns, beadwork, maple pyrography – all the natural products she can find in the forest are a form of inspiration for Eliane.

While balancing work, family and creation, Eliane wishes to continue teaching and transmitting culture through conferences in various settings or directly with children and young adults in schools.

You can admire her work on her Facebook page, or get the chance to meet her at a Pow Wow on the Anicinabe aki.