Mi’kma’ki in Bloom: Wood-Splint Flowers: Art, Resistance, and Cultural Continuity

Abstract

Wood-splint flowers, an art form practiced by Mi’kmaw artist Madeline Knockwood in the late 1930s, represent a distinct and enduring art form in Mi’kma’ki (the traditional homeland of the Mi’kmaq) today by artists who continue the practice. Mi’kmaw artists continue to make these intricate flowers, sustaining Knockwood’s legacy and reinforcing the cultural significance of this art form. Examples of Knockwood’s wood-splint flowers can be found in museums and educational collections in Kjipuktuk (Halifax, Nova Scotia), underscoring their historical and contemporary significance. This thesis uses a material culture methodology to examine wood-splint flowers as a lens through which to understand Mi’kmaw artistic traditions, their connection to Mi’kmaw ways of knowing, the euro-settler/traveler souvenir economy, and the strategic use of commodity art as a counter to assimilation pressures. I argue that wood-splint flowers are a marker of Mi’kmaw cultural continuity, yet simultaneously, material evidence of adaptation, innovation, and the enduring human drive to honour creative traditions amidst social and economic changes.