Biography

I am a self-taught designer and craftsperson who was born and raised on the Ojibwa Serpent River First Nation reserve, one of ten children. I reside on Georgian Bay in Penetanguishene (“place of the white rolling sands”).

As a shy three-year-old girl I first tried my hand at sewing my doll a dress when nobody was looking. My creative interest continued, and at the age of eight or nine I learned how to loom beads. A visitor from Wikwemikong came to the reserve and showed an interest in my work and ordered beaded headbands for the Wiki T-Birds Hockey Team.

I excelled in art during my school days, receiving praise from teachers and school friends. Inspired by the beauty of art, I attended the White Mountain Academy of the Arts in Elliott Lake, where I learned how to work from a holistic approach, making my own clay, paints, snowshoes and skinned and tanned hides for drums.

Twenty-one years ago I began creating Native porcelain dolls and continue to be inspired by them today, designing regalia from deer hide and utilizing my own beadwork designs.

I was a Fancy Dancer in the 1990s and designed my own regalia for the first time. While making the regalia I was asked to be a Head Dancer in Kitchener-Waterloo. This is when I had a dream about a white bird and bought some white material. I found later that my mother dreamed about a white bird that looked like an eagle. I proceeded to create my regalia in the style of an eagle with a wing effect that was well received. In 2000 I began a new regalia and transitioned into a Traditional Dancer.

I started a woman’s hand drum group at the Georgian Bay Native Friendship Centre and continue to be involved with my culture by volunteering in the community, offering educational workshops and participating in Pow Wows celebrating my Native culture.

Marilynpeltier1@gmail.com