MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Morgan Asoyuf currently has an exhibit at the Metal Museum, titled, Tributaries: Royal Portraits. She is from the Ts'msyen Eagle Clan along the Ksyeen River in British Columbia, Canada.
Asoyuf's work includes various pieces of jewelry, masks, crowns, and mantles of responsibility (the belief that the most developed species are charged with tending to all life in the galaxy). The photographs in this Royal Portraits exhibition were taken by Patrick Shannon and they portray Indigenous activists, with some of them dressed in royal regalia ( a distinction of royalty or power.)
"Royal Portrait reimagines royal regalia and portraiture to bring attention to the importance of the Indigenous matriarch. In Ts’msyen culture, the matriarchs hold a special high-ranking position that can be both compared and contrasted to the western concept of royalty. “Royalty” or “high rank” is passed down matrilineally and signifies a responsibility to care for one’s land and people.
“Today, there is much confusion and struggle in our communities in making these important decisions, especially around land," reads a quote from Asoyuf herself, as stated on Metal Museum's website.
The exhibit consists of jewelry and photography about Native art and culture, as well as the rights of Indigenous people in the Pacific Northwest.
This exhibit is on display at the Metal Museum until September 25th.