Salish artist Aspen Decker traces first contact, treaties and language revival in Missoula gallery talk

Aspen Decker, a Salish artist and language educator, told a Missoula audience that first contact, treaty-making and language loss shaped Salish people’s modern experience and that ledger art can restore those stories.

Decker spoke at Radius contemporary art gallery as the second lecture in a three-part series on Salish history. Lisa Simon, gallery co-owner and event host, introduced Decker and said, “She’s absolutely qualified to tell us about the history of this, of the Salish people whose whose lands Missoula occupies.”

Decker used images, personal history and cultural explanation to place ledger art, first contact with fur traders and the Lewis and Clark expedition, and treaty-era removals into a Salish frame. She described ledger art as a pictographic tradition tied to regalia and family designs and said she incorporates Salish language into her pieces so viewers engage both visually and…