Twitter Canada is using Haida artist Jaalen Edenshaw鈥檚 work to celebrate National Indigenous History Month.
The Naaxiin graphic Edenshaw created will appear beside hashtags related to National Indigenous History Month or Indigenous Peoples Day throughout June.
It is the fifth year that Twitter Canada has worked with an Indigenous artist to mark the occasion.
Naaxiin is the word used by the Haida for the form line-designed chief鈥檚 robe commonly known as Chilkat.
Edenshaw chose this symbol because it is relevant to Indigenous communities beyond the Haida.
鈥淚t鈥檚 still a north coast design but represents a wider group of people,鈥� he said.
Edenshaw suspects Twitter approached him for the project after they saw the collection of Haida emojis he created in 2020 in collaboration with Geoff Horner. The set has over 60 downloadable icons, including faces, symbols and common expressions.
Emojis have become a major form of communication, but they all have the same visual style, he explained.
He wanted to give options for young people to communicate with their own Haida aesthetic and stories.
For Edenshaw, it was a fun project saying he tries not to take himself too seriously.
鈥淓veryone seems to like them,鈥� he said.
Edenshaw and his brother, Gwaai Edenshaw, co-founded K鈥檃lts鈥檌da K鈥檃h (Laughing Crow), a collective to tell Haida stories and promote the Haida language through art. They have a workshop in Masset, B.C.
While he doesn鈥檛 use Twitter or emojis himself, Edenshaw said his kids do.
Gwaii added that he created a Twitter account for their collective but swiftly forgot the password.
Kaitlyn Bailey | Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
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