I just wanted to share a few links to the work of Courtney Leonard (Shinnecock).
(Website): https://courtneymleonard.com/home.html
(Blog, BREACH): http://breachlog.blogspot.com
(Artist facebook page) https://www.facebook.com/Courtney.M.Leonard.Art/
In her first blog post, “BREACH: (noun) An Act of…” Leonard defines her art, her thought process and her impetus for using the term Breach: “defined as an act of breaking or failing to observe a law, agreement or code of conduct.” This term seems carefully selected because it is interestingly contrasted with another meaning of breach/breaching, which is in reference to whale behavior, “Breaching is a form of surfacing behaviour where most or all of the whale’s body leaves the water.” (https://www.wildaboutwhales.com.au/whale-facts/about-whales/whale-behaviour).
I cannot speak for Courtney, and cannot say if this double-entendre was her intention or not, however my own interpretation leads me to believe that this parallel between terms is significant. Since colonization began in the New England region, many agreements, contracts, laws, and treaties have been breached and broken. I feel that this is especially true when it comes to laws surrounding subsistence. Recently, I traveled with my husband and son (both enrolled members of the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah)) to an area in Massachusetts where my husband can legally take herring for subsistence purposes. As long as he is the one taking the fish, there is no legal trouble. However, I am not of that tribe, but I am an enrolled citizen of the Narragansett Indian Tribe, and we do not have that same right. In 1987, my father was arrested on taking fish without a license, and taking a protected species. However, the state of Rhode Island DEM brought him up on charges, even though the federal law allows for tribes to uphold subsistence practices (https://www.upi.com/Archives/1987/05/08/Indian-battles-state-over-fishing-rights/4428547444800/).
The reason why herring are a protected species is that the construction of dams, pollution of waterways, and the overfishing of herring as bait has caused their numbers to plummet over the years. The population has bounced back a bit, but they still are protected. Despite protections, certain tribes are allowed their annual subsistence rights of harvesting these fish. To my original story: when traveling with my husband and son to an unnamed location in Massachusetts where he is able to harvest herring, we arrived at one of the rivers where they travel upstream to spawn. Right before the pond is a business that has dammed up the waterway, but as part of mitigation, they erected a fish ladder. However, upon arrival, the majority of the fish were not traveling towards the fish ladder, but were traveling towards the heavier flow, which was the source of an outflow pipe from the pond. This flow was too heavy and too high for the fish to jump, so hundreds of thousands of fish were attempting to travel up into this flow, but were getting beat back amongst the rocks and the cement. My husband took less than 50 herring, and then hand carried at least 100 up the steep hill alongside the flow pipe to the pond. If each female fish produces thousands of eggs, imagine the number of fish that will not be born because this outflow pipe is blocking the ability of the fish to spawn. Later on, we went to the fish ladder. The company responsible for caring for it, did not even bother to open the fish ladder for the season, and the few fish that did travel that way were not able to get beyond the first gate in the ladder. This corporation is breaching its contract with MA-DEP, and is single handedly contributing to the decline in the fish population, and our own Native people are still being harassed for taking enough fish to feed our families for a season.
Rant over.
This breach of original contract mirrors other issues surrounding subsistence rights of hunting, fishing, gathering and the taking of marine resources. Although we as Native people are not participating in subsistence whaling, or are pushing for subsistence whaling due to the understanding that conservation is still necessary, there are many tribes who participated in pre-contact whaling and taking of marine mammals/parts. For me, this directly relates to the alternative use of the term “breach,” which is when whales leave the water. The breach of contract directly inhibits the breaching of whales for Indigenous populations.
Cover Art:
“Round Dance (Whale)”
Collaboration: Frank Buffalo Hyde and Courtney M. Leonard, 2015
Mixed Media on Canvas 40″ x 60″
Available at Modern West Fine Art (Salt Lake City, UT)
