Cheyenne Rain LeGrande ᑭᒥᐊᐧᐣ

Cheyenne Rain Legrande_Mullyanne Nîmito_Walterdale Theatre (1)

Cheyenne Rain LeGrande ᑭᒥᐊᐧᐣ is a Nehiyaw artist from Bigstone Cree Nation, who currently resides in Amiskwaciy Waskahikan, also known as Edmonton, Alberta. Their work is an expression of love, intergenerational joy and resilience. Through their body and language, they speak to the past, present, and future. Their work is rooted in the strength to feel, express, and heal, and explores the hybrid space between tradition and Nehiyaw pop culture. Bringing their ancestors with them, Cheyenne moves through installation, photography, fashion, video, sound, public art, and performance art.

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Mullyanne Nîmito

In nêhiyawêwin, “Nîmito” means “they dance.”

Mullyanne Nîmito is a performance and video work featuring two objects: a hybrid moccasin platform shoe and a sculptural shawl made from 3,300 Bepsi and beer tabs collected by the artist and their community over the past five years. The tabs are woven together with pastel ribbon to create a long, fringed garment inspired by a fancy shawl.

Both objects are acts of reclamation, honouring shared knowledge and practices Cheyenne encountered in their everyday life: those of their ancestors, who created garments from the materials around them, and the knowledge shared by their aunt, Nanaskomitin Auntie Christine, who taught the artist how to make traditional moccasins. Cheyenne expresses gratitude to all the aunties, Kokums, and ancestors who have guided them.

The objects serve as an entry point for exploring their Nehiyaw femme identity through the figure of a Nehiyaw alien, engaging with themes of protection, movement as healing, ancestral knowledge, and intergenerational resilience and love.

The research will build upon a first iteration that took place in Wabasca. It was an honour for Cheyenne to perform on their homelands, alongside and in relation to nipiy, the water, pahkisimon, the sunsets, and askiy, the land.