The Story behind the Logo Created for the International Year of Indigenous Languages 2019: Perspectives Conference at PFW

FORT WAYNE, Ind.—A chance meeting at a conference in Arizona this past April turned into an unexpected opportunity for a graphic designer from Montana.

Kaylene Big Knife is a member of the Chippewa Cree Tribe of the Rocky Boy's Indian Reservation in Montana. She is also a graphic designer who earned an Associate of Fine Arts in Graphic Design from the Institute of American Indian Arts; a Bachelor of Arts in Native American Studies with a minor in Studio Art from the University of Montana-Missoula; and a Master of Arts in Linguistics with an emphasis in Native American Languages and Linguistics from the University of Arizona.

While attending the Symposium for American Indian Languages in Tucson, Arizona, in April, she met Purdue University Fort Wayne Professor of Linguistics Shannon Bischoff, who was looking for an artist to design a logo. The two talked, an agreement was reached, and Big Knife began working on design proposals for the logo for the International Year of Indigenous Languages 2019: Perspectives Conference, which takes place from October 30 through November 2 at Purdue University Fort Wayne.

After about two months of discussion, drafting, and editing, the logo was finished.

“It was decided that Indiana's state flower, the peony, would be a focal point for the logo,” says Big Knife. “The peony flower centralizes us to the land of Indiana, but I personally envisioned the peony to represent a language. With this idea concept, I then used my Ojibwe heritage as inspiration to interpret the flower, and so we have a contemporary Ojibwe floral design of the peony.”

Other design elements of the logo include roots on the flower, which tell a story of connection and symbolize growth. “The yellow circles above the peony are pollen, and this further represents growth as well as the sharing of knowledge and worldview in the language. Overall, the logo symbolizes movement and stability, and the colors are vibrant and elegant, evoking confident strength,” adds Big Knife.

“We chose the version of the logo with all of the colors of the rainbow because it is a conference that celebrates diversity of thought and perspectives,” notes Mary Encabo, a continuing lecturer in linguistics at Purdue Fort Wayne and a member of the conference planning committee. “By having all of the colors, we communicate our respect for perspectives and desire to find unity among perspectives.”

Kaylene Big Knife will be attending the conference and will be a presenter on Saturday, November 2, during the Language Expo and Community Report session, which runs from 2 to 5 p.m. on the Skybridge of Helmke Library.

For more information on the conference, which is open to the public, go to its webpage. Anyone wishing to attend the conference can register for it here.

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