THE CANYON

Canyon Break is a tribute to my nomadic ancestors—the Kiowa and Apache—whose journeys stretched across vast landscapes of the Americas. Oral histories speak of traveling as far north as “where the white bear was,” referring to the polar bear in regions as distant as present-day Saskatchewan, Canada, and as far south as lands “where monkeys lived in the trees,” reaching into South America.

Within what is now the United States, the Kiowa migrated through present-day Wyoming, Montana, Colorado, the Texas Panhandle, and Oklahoma. The Apache moved across New Mexico, Arizona, northern Mexico, western Texas, southern Colorado, western Oklahoma, and southern Kansas.

This piece honors that movement, resilience, and the enduring connection to land carried across generations.