In Kwakwaka’wakw tradition, the Hummingbird is a symbol of healing, joy, and transformation. It often appears during times of change—quietly marking a shift, or reminding us to stay close to what restores us.
In this piece, Francis Dick (Kwakwaka’wakw Nation) brings the Hummingbird into relationship with the flower—a moment of exchange. One offers nourishment, the other ensures continuity. Together, they reflect a core teaching: that strength lives in reciprocity.
Francis Dick is a contemporary Kwakwaka’wakw artist from Kingcome Inlet. She began painting in her twenties, following the loss of her grandmother—a turning point that led her to art as a way to process grief, reconnect with culture, and tell her own story.
Her work blends traditional Kwakwaka’wakw formline with personal narrative. The shapes and symbols she uses are rooted in ancestral knowledge, but her compositions often carry an emotional intensity that’s unmistakably her own. Bold color, clarity of line, and the presence of lived experience are hallmarks of her style.
Francis’s art speaks to transformation, survival, and the strength of Indigenous women. She has exhibited across Canada and internationally, but her work remains grounded in purpose: to create with honesty, and to honour where she comes from.
