Sara Siestreem (Hanis Coos) began learning traditional basket weaving in 2011 and launched a program in 2014 to revitalize the ancestral practice nearly lost to colonization. The Missoula Art Museum (MAM) in Montana is now exhibiting her work in "Sara Siestreem: Acts of Love, Refusal, and Resistance," which combines handwoven baskets with 3D scanning and printing technology to create ceramic slip-cast objects that elevate the functional basket into a complex art form.
This exhibition matters because it highlights Indigenous cultural resurgence through art, blending centuries-old traditions with contemporary technology to tell stories of resistance and love. Siestreem's work not only preserves but amplifies Hanis Coos heritage, addressing historical erasure while demonstrating how museums can support Indigenous artists in reclaiming and transforming ancestral practices for new generations.