Restoring Ocean Relationships was commissioned by Coastal Voices, a research collaborative that includes Indigenous Hereditary Leaders, knowledge holders and western scientists. The artwork captures this collaborative research process as well as the themes and ideas that emerged during two Listening Circles where Indigenous knowledge of sea otters was shared and upheld.

Traveling together in a shared canoe, four people are navigating towards a future where relationships among people, sea otters, shellfish and kelp are guided by ancestral laws of respect, responsibility, and balance. These people represent Hereditary Indigenous Chiefs, knowledge holders, and western scientists who are on a journey together to create a more equitable, resilient, and sustainable future for our shared ocean home. The unique hats and paddles* identify the distinct yet unified Nations, of the Xaayda (Haida), Haíɫzaqv (Heiltsuk), and nuučaan̓uł (Nuu-chah-nulth), as they steer the canoe, set the course, and take care of each other. In their midst, a young child, representing western science, sits. While the child is eager to help propel the canoe forward and has much to contribute, they also have much to learn. Central to this journey is respect for distinct and sovereign knowledge systems and views of nature. When both are honoured and woven together, represented by the cedar mat in the background, they create a richer picture of the whole. The canoe is navigating through turbulent waters, of climate change, entrenched colonialism, and scientific imperialism in current ocean governance. Underneath the canoe, there is a child (center) who represents the future. Their hands are raised giving thanks. We raise our hands to give thanks but also to ask permission from the Creator. Grandmother Moon and Grandfather Sun are on either side and showing balance and cycles of nature. On either side of the main image you can see sea otters diving to the sea floor with their bellies full of clams, one of many shellfish that both sea otters and coastal First Nations rely on for food, medicine, and identity. This journey towards food sovereignty and justice for all is contained in a bentwood box –in nuučaan̓uł a hup-a-qwin-um – a Hereditary Chief’s chest containing all the chiefly treasures, laws, values, principles, cultural protocols, and knowledge used to take care of the water, land, human, and non-human kin in their territory for which they have responsibility. It represents the governance systems which includes everything we need to uphold our responsibilities of taking care of the coast, including each other. The lid of the box is decorated with operculua, the trap door of the red turban snail, another type of shellfish that hold importance to Indigenous people and sea otters.