She comes from Denendeh (Northwest Territories), by way of Mittimatalik, Nunavut through her father and Haïti through her mother, and is well-regarded as a leader in Indigenous resurgence working across the arts, cultural land-based education and decolonial advocacy.
Siku is an artistic innovator who often reimagines conventional forms as imbued by her cultural traditions, oral history and land-based practice.
Her artistic work has been included in several groundbreaking Indigenous exhibitions, including INUA (Qaumajuq-Winnipeg Art Gallery, 2021-2022); Indigenous Futures Rooted & Ascending (Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre, 2021); Hexsa’am: To Be Here Always (UBC Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery, Kamloops Art Gallery, 2019); and Life on Neebageezis (Nuit Blanche Toronto, 2017).
Her poetry and other writing have been published nationally and internationally in The Guardian, Canadian Art Magazine, The Capilano Review, Chatelaine and Truthout, as well as several anthologies.
In 2021 Siku completed DOC BC / YT / NWT’s inaugural Breakthrough Program and was the first Indigenous artist-in-residence at Cineworks Independent Filmmakers Society (Vancouver, BC).
Her first short film, Spirit Emulsion (2022), co-produced by herself (Akia Films) and Jessica Hallenbeck (Lantern Films), screened at the National Arts Centre and was officially selected for Available Light Film Festival, Łı́ı́dlı̨ı̨ Kų́ę́Film Festival, SKODEN Indigenous Film Festival, Dawson City International Short Film Festival, DOXA and Māoriland Film Festival. She is also a programmer with Available Light Film Festival (2021, 2022), imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival (2021) and BlackStar Film Festival (2022).
Siku is currently working on the development of her first feature documentary, Indígena, as the writer, director and co-producer.
She is excited to be part of this program and is looking forward to learning from Indigenous mentors who have successfully navigated the industry and integrated their cultural values in their work, and who are passionate about creating greater room for Indigenous artists and stories.