about the artist
pat bruderer (halfmoon Woman)
She is a birch bark biting artist from Churchill, Manitoba, now living in the Kootenays, BC. A member of the Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation, she is self-taught and has practiced this traditional art for over 20 years. Birch bark biting involves using one's teeth to create intricate designs on thin birch bark, a method historically used by Indigenous peoples across Turtle Island for storytelling and craft templates.
Pat's process includes thirteen stages and incorporates the elements of earth, water, wind, and fire. Her passion for teaching has brought this tradition to students in communities like Yellowknife, Winnipeg, and Vernon, where it supports cultural learning and spatial reasoning.
Her work is featured in museums, private collections, and international exhibitions across Canada, the USA, Switzerland, France, and Italy.
"I’m a mother, kookoom to many, and my relationships continue to thrive. Through cultural resilience, I bite back."
About Wanuskewin collective
Our shops are a not-for-profit organization that have been apart of the Wanuskewin Heritage Park for over 30 years now. With our earnings going back into the park and other organizations such as ones involved in survivors of Residential schools as well as families of Missing Murdered Indigenous Women; we are fortunate and proud to be apart of Treaty 6 Territory.
