There’s something special about Sally Milne.
Using only her teeth and carefully harvested birch bark, she transforms paper-like layers into a distinctive and unique work of art.
Motifs of bees, dragonflies, flowers, leaves, and vines intertwine and participate in telling a story, touching on themes of Interconnectedness, Balance and Harmony.
In the early 1990s, Cree Elder Sally Milne decided she was going to become the best in the world at something. Precisely what that something was going to be, she was yet to decide.
Milne first considered cross-country skiing, but she had very little experience with the winter sport. But the date of a popular, all-abilities competition was approaching and she thought the event might be a good opportunity to measure her potential. Before it arrived, however, event organizers asked her to provide some prizes in the form of birch bark bitings she'd just recently begun to create.
"I'm now one of the four most renowned bark biters in the world,'' Milne proclaims, her small smile growing into a hearty laugh as she adds: "There's a total of four of us in the world!''
Milne credits her traditional upbringing on the trap line -- with helping her to value the goals of balance and harmony in her adult life.
Text by Dave Yanko / Virtual Saskatchewan
“With only a small handful of artists practicing this art form, each piece of art is actually a rare piece of history.”
