Nesting Instinct: Re-imagining Alutiiq and Domesticity in Tanya Lukin-Linklater’s Performance Work

• Published in: Canadian Theatre Review
• Main Author: Frey, Heather Fitzsimrnons
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: University of Toronto Press Inc. (UTPress) 2009
• Subjects: Visual Arts and Performing Arts; alutiiq
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.3138/ctr.137.007; https://ctr.utpjournals.press/doi/pdf/10.3138/ctr.137.007

The first time I saw Tanya Lukin-Linklater perform, she ground up red clay, mixed it with water into a paste and spread it on her body. She made twig nests; she sang what seemed to be a lullaby; she made guttural sounds and repeated “suk suk.” At one point, she “became” bird woman, and when the performance settled into quietness, she entered the audience, and, speaking in words I did not understand, she seemed to bless each spectator individually with a smudge of clay paste — even my unborn child. I felt warm, welcome and like I had been a part of something significant. The vivid images were powerful, but I felt ill-equipped to interpret them.