Mother

Orly Cogan’s work with embroidery had got me thinking of feminine traditions and of my own heritage. My mother is Native American and she was adopted into a white family as a baby. About ten years ago, her birth family contacted her, and it’s been great to have a sense of where we came from. My sister, Joey, has been working on a family tree. She came across a photo of this woman, Lottie Bagley, who is our great, great, great grandmother. It’s taken in 1905 on the Squaxin Island Indian Reservation in Washington State. This photo just took my breath away. Maybe it’s just because it’s part of where I came from, or maybe it’s because a part of me relates to her expressive gesture, the ruffles, the hand on the hip. (sorry, couldn’t help myself!)