Robert Houle is a contemporary artist, curator, and critic who has played a significant role in the recovery of Indigenous heritage. He draws on Western art conventions to tackle lingering aspects of European colonization of First Nations people, bringing text and photographic documents into his work.

Here, Houle juxtaposes the bold statement of the Odawa name for parts of Michigan, “Michilimackinac,” with a gold form decked with quills. The study belongs to a series of works that reckons with Houle’s realization that the American Pontiac car, also originating in Michigan, draws its name from the Odawa chief Pontiac, who is famous for waging a campaign of resistance to British rule in the 1760s.