Nanih Bvlbvncha Monument

SH4RE actively collaborates and supports Nanih Bvlbvncha a collective group of artists whose nations and ancestry are all in the southeast consisting of Virginia Richard, Jenna Mae, Monique Verdin, Ozone504, Ida Aronson, and Dr. Tammy Greer. In 2022, Prospect New Orleans launched the Artists of Public Memory project and invited our group to share a vision of how symbols, monuments, and collective memories can appear and function in our landscape, society, and public space.

 

For this project, we are building an earthen pyramid mound in Bvlbancha (New Orleans), on a public parkway known as the Lafitte Greenway, to honor our Ancestors and anchor ourselves as we move into the future. The mound will mark the four cardinal directions and connect the lower, middle, and upper worlds of Indigenous Southeastern cosmologies. Using clay, mud, sand, and shells, just as our ancestors did, we are reclaiming a place for all Indigenous peoples in the heart of Bvlbancha, a place that has been and continues to be a hub where many people, speaking many languages, have come together to connect and exchange.  We envision this mound as a place that not only recognizes our ancestral history, but also our contemporary realities. We envision Nanih Bvlbancha as a pathway to health and healing that will inspire sustainable futures in our city and region.