Salisha Old Bull
Salisha Old Bull
“Focus on Empowerment”
Roses We Know by Old Bull. Courtesy of the artist.
Salisha Old Bull (she/her) has always been an artist. Even when life pulled her in different directions, toward a degree in psychology and work in education, she felt herself always drawn back to art. While life circumstances constantly drew her away from work as an artist, she never gave up on that dream. “My whole life I wanted to do art,” she says. Now, after a recent move to Vancouver with her family, she is a full-time practicing artist.
Old Bull is Bitterroot Salish and Crow and was raised in Salish Country in Western Montana. She inherited her love of art from her maternal grandmother: “I spent a lot of time with her. She’s the one that taught me how to bead, and she taught me a lot of things about art. She was an aspiring artist forever. She still is.” And even in those years when Old Bull wasn't able to create art full time, she says, “I never quit beading.” She really started beading in earnest when she had her kids: “I wanted them to have a baby board. I never had a baby board. I know how special it is to have that, and to have one handed down to you. I thought, I’m gonna do that. I’m gonna do that for my kids.” From there, she made them everything they would need to dance as well.
Wild roses native to Crow and Salish lands that inspire Old Bull’s work.
Old Bull’s desire to create is fueled by a love of her family and her people and a deep care for the traditional ecological knowledge she learned from her uncle and her grandmother. Just like creating art, this knowledge has been a constant in Old Bull’s life, drawing her back to herself and her roots when life began to pull her away. Rather than focus on the bigotry against Native people that she has experienced throughout her life or the hardships that Native people, particularly Native women face, she chooses to focus on traditional cultural knowledge. “Everything that I do, after and before, it's all having to do with our ecological knowledge,” she says. It allows her to “focus on empowerment” and “focus on something better, like what helped [her]” when she was experiencing difficult times.
She sees art as a way of imparting this knowledge to her children and to future generations, hoping it will ground them and keep them centered, as it did for her:
“When I actually think of what I’m doing [with my art], it might mean something to a non-Indigenous person, but it will mean everything to an Indigenous person. If I could help somebody feel proud about who they are and encourage them to start learning more about their cultural ties, like encouraging someone to learn more about our seasons, then that is something. It is an accomplishment…That means more to me than anything.”
Detail shot of The Roses We Know. Courtesy of the artist.
Old Bull believes fiercely in the cultural empowerment that becomes possible through learning, practicing, and teaching cultural knowledge: “It’s something that will keep your heart strong. It’s impenetrable. Somebody can’t come and take that knowledge from you; they can’t lessen you. And it's the most important knowledge because it's cultural knowledge.”
As an artist, Old Bull is always pushing herself. Although she hasn’t always felt the most confident in her drawing, she recently agreed to illustrate a children’s book about Crow kids getting tipi poles. “I’m learning about taking opportunities,” she says. She joined bead night during the pandemic, saying “I was happy to join as we were experiencing severe isolation in this world, and it was a chance to visit and bead together.”
She draws on the group for the support and friendship, and particularly appreciates being part of a group of “supportive people who applaud any accomplishments, whether beading, or any other steps forward in life.” Through bead night, she met fellow artist Adele Arseneau, who took her in when Old Bull moved to Vancouver and mentored her as an artist and entrepreneur.
Old Bull has worked hard to be a full-time artist, and the pathway to realizing this life-long dream has not been easy. Through her dedication to art, traditional ecological knowledge, and cultural empowerment, she has built a vibrant and inspiring practice. She says, “I feel that each piece completed is a way to show our presence as Indigenous people and the beauty we contribute to this world.” Her impact is already deeply felt by those who meet her and have the privilege of experiencing her work.
Artist Biography
Salisha Old Bull was born in Eastern Montana and raised on the Flathead Indian Reservation in Western Montana. Her mother is Salish and father is Crow so she has a well-rounded bundle of Indigenous teachings from the Montana area. She is married to Shandin Pete and has 5 children. She was an aspiring artist as a child but chose to follow a different career path. She kept art in the background of her life and expressed most of her creativity through beadwork. She was taught to bead by her maternal grandmother, Rachel Arlee Bowers when she was a very young child and considers her earliest memories of beading at about her second grade in elementary school. In addition, painting, photography, digital art, and drawing are other favorite mediums. She gains inspiration from traditional ecological knowledge from both Salish and Crow tribes and uses this imagery within her artwork. These aspects of cultural knowledge are the attributes that empower Indigenous people.