About Speplól Tanya Zilinski

Speplól Tanya is a visual artist, a Halq'eméylem language teacher, and the Matriarch of their family. A member of the Red River Nation in Manitoba, they hold maternal and ancestral ties to the Anishinaabe, Cree, Dakota, and Huron-Wendat Nations across the Plains and Great Lakes regions of Turtle Island and are of Ukrainian descent on their paternal side.

One of their traditional names, Speplól—meaning "Little Crow"—was gifted to them at the age of fourteen. Born and raised on the stolen lands of the Chowethel people, Ts'qó:ls (known to settlers as Hope, B.C.), Speplól has lived their entire life in this territory. Their artistic practice centers on traditional Indigenous loom beadwork, through which they transmit oral stories and teachings. They learned loom beading at the age of fifteen from a Stó:lō Elder in their community at Chawathil First Nation, and have since developed unique methods and techniques for creating large-scale beadwork tapestries using glass seed beads.

Speplól is connected to the Stó:lō community in the Teltíyt Tribe area through over 32 years of unification, six children, and grandchildren. They have received both training and formal permissions from Elders and community members to teach the language and cultural knowledge of the Upper River Stó:lō people. They are a certified teacher with the British Columbia Teachers’ Federation (BCTF), and currently teach Halq'eméylem language and culture in School District 78, Fraser Cascade.