Seattle Kraken Common Thread Indigenous Peoples Hoodie 2025-26
Artist: Amber Webb
About The Design: Artist Statement
Yup'ik people live in relation to the water systems in Southwest Alaska and all the animals that depend on them. Migratory birds are an important part of our seasonal food system and their feathers and bones are used in tool making, dance regalia, and spiritual masks. Fish are and have been integral to our lives and survival since time immemorial. Today, it is more important than ever that indigenous people are supported in stewarding the animals that have sustained us by caring for the lands and waters that we are born from to maintain healthy ecosystems. These designs are inspired by Yakuluq - birds and Sayaq - fish depicted in Yup'ik graphic art that was used to mark bent wood items and tools with soot or ochre. These designs are examples of the immense and intimate ecological knowledge of Yup'ik people and serve as reminders of the collective responsibility shared by all of us to respect all things - the basis for Yup'ik values.