My name is Gordon Sparks, my clan mother is the beaver, clan spirit animal the bear, born from the
Turtle River, and the salmon is our clan dotem, raised in Pabineau First Nation, now living in Rough
Waters N.B. Canada. The traditional hand-carved wooden mask has taken me on a vision path that is
guiding my mind, body, and spirit to seek knowledge and wisdom of the Mi'kmaw people’s stories,
traditional ceremonies, traditional food, and medicine. Each mask that I make is from my life story, and
the people of Mi’kma’ki. Each mask, has a personal story on how I was guided to find the tree, take its
life, carve the spirit out of the wood for all to see, and listen to what it has to say to ears that need to
hear it. The vision I have been given guides my passion, and desire to record the past and present, with
three dimensional form. I strongly believe in the traditional hand-carved wooden mask, traditional
ceremony and storytelling. Each mask speaks to me, guides me, the tree that is chosen speaks to me to
carve the spirit of our ancestors and the stories of our life givers and life protectors that live here in
Mi’kma’ki, to be shown to all people of the land. In the end the spirits of the trees will speak of my
people of today and my ancestors of the past, through the wooden mask, storytelling, and the language
of the land. My work as a Mi’kmaw artist represents tradition for the Mi'kmaw people, to guarantee the
preservation of traditional values, new and old ceremonies, oral storytelling, and the gathering of
people to share in life stories together.