Our Project Logo by Sarah Jim

Artist Statement by Sarah Jim :

“Fireweed is a beautiful, abundant, and resilient plant that grows best after disturbance. The fluffy seeds are free to fly away and land where they're meant to be. We can learn from this plant by being open to challenges and having the freedom to choose. The moon phases emphasize the divine feminine and the cyclical nature of all things. The moon reminds us that change is constant, and phases are temporary. The fireweed flower in the centre could also be a compass rose, representing the four directions and the ubiquitous nature of this project.”

Why Fireweed?

“There’s one plant called fire weed and you can usually find it up in northern Alberta or anywhere where there’s been forest fires because it’s a plant that grows and grows after forest fires. But I know that we traditionally used that as birth control, but also as a medicine to implement abortion… I kind of have a philosophy that … with the knowledge of herbal methods ending a pregnancy, Indigenous culture suggests a tradition of honoring pregnant people’s self-determination of their own bodies. … Unfortunately, in my culture you hear a lot of “abortions never happened, we didn’t do abortions, abortions are a sin” and … I think that really came from colonial Christian Catholic, settler ideologies.”

The name of this project was inspired by a conversation with one of the participant’s from our pilot project, Global Goal, Local Impact. This person shared their community’s traditional use of fireweed to induce abortion: