Anishinaabe artist creates Turtle Island emoji to celebrate National Indigenous History Month in Canada · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

A still from a GIF showing which hashtags unlock the Turtle Island emoji, designed by Chief Lady Bird. Via Twitter Canada.
Canadian Twitter users are able to use a specially designed emoji throughout the month of June to commemorate National Indigenous History Month. Created by Anishinaabe artist Chief Lady Bird, the emoji depicts a turtle, tree, and sun representing “Turtle Island,” which is the English name of the continent of North America as translated from a number of native languages.
Chief Lady Bird shared her thinking behind the design in a series of tweets. She said she first made sure to crowdsource ideas from other First Nations members on Twitter because of the challenges of finding imagery that encompasses the diversity of communities across the country.
Before I began creating the emoji, I wanted to ensure that some level of community consultation happened. As this design is meant to represent my community, I didn’t want to speak on behalf of anyone. Moreover, I wanted to bring a collective vision to life.
— Chief Lady Bird ? (@chiefladybird) June 1, 2018
Though there were some tight time constraints, I took to Twitter, Instagram and Facebook to gather suggestions for the emoji design! Based on the information I received, I created an official poll on Twitter with the four most popular options.
— Chief Lady Bird ? (@chiefladybird) June 1, 2018
Its important to note that I don’t believe that one symbol can represent the vastness of Indigenous people. Every nation, every language group, every clan, every individual indigenous person has a distinct story & it would be unfair to ever imply that we fall under one category.
— Chief Lady Bird ? (@chiefladybird) June 1, 2018
The final decision to create the Turtle Island emoji came from the official twitter poll (1,727 votes- 50% for turtle island) as well as the fact that turtle island is a decolonial view of the continent that we all belong to. pic.twitter.com/7dFEk8QU9a
— Chief Lady Bird ? (@chiefladybird) June 1, 2018
The emoji also pays homage to our reciprocal relationship with Mother Earth, as well as the Anishinaabe creation story in which a muskrat sacrifices herself to swim into the depths and bring up dirt to put onto the turtle’s back, to provide life and sustenance for all of creation
— Chief Lady Bird ? (@chiefladybird) June 1, 2018
As an Anishinaabe artist, I am careful not to appropriate from other nations, as I recognize how sacred all of our imagery and stories are. I am very vocal about cultural appropriation and like to walk my talk.
— Chief Lady Bird ? (@chiefladybird) June 1, 2018
There has been a lot of great dialogue throughout the design process, which I am so so grateful for. One of the main concerns was that the options in my poll did not reflect the inuit- and they didn’t. But I would never feel right about using symbolism that I don’t understand.
— Chief Lady Bird ? (@chiefladybird) June 1, 2018
The emoji can be “unlocked” by using the related hashtags #IndigenousHistoryMonth, #IndigenousPeoplesDay, #FirstNations, #Metis, #Métis, and #Inuit. It's the result of a partnership with Twitter Canada, one that Chief Lady Bird sees as a starting point for future collaborations:
For instance: this year the design was created by an Anishinaabe artist (I’m honoured and so excited! This is so surreal!) and next year it could be an Inuit artist and the year after i could be a Haudenosaunee artist and then Métis and then Mi’kmaq etc etc
— Chief Lady Bird ? (@chiefladybird) June 1, 2018
There is potential for this project to bloom into something larger that can acknowledge the intersections of Indigeneity, and I am excited to see where it goes!
— Chief Lady Bird ? (@chiefladybird) June 1, 2018
Chi miigwech to everyone for your continued support! But more importantly thank you for your honesty. For holding people accountable. For advocating for culturally accurate representation. This work is important and can’t be done alone. #NativeTwitter is awesome ❤️
— Chief Lady Bird ? (@chiefladybird) June 1, 2018