Aiyyana Maracle

Education and teaching Maracle completed one year of a Bachelor of Architecture (BArch) at Pennsylvania State University in 1969. She completed university transfer courses (including physics, chemistry, math, English and Spanish) in 1984 at Vancouver Community College, Langara campus. In 2006, she received a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) (with a specialization in interdisciplinary media) from Goddard College in Plainfield, Vermont. She also handmade numerous garments and accessories such as fur headpieces, masks, dresses, robes, skirts, jackets, jewelry, and metal nipples to wear during performances. She was part of a contemporary Indigenous art community in Vancouver in the 1990s where she was involved with an artist-run centre known as Grunt gallery. and First Nations Performance Series (1992) which explored Indigenous identity as it intersected with themes of race, gender, and sexuality. She performed in NDN Wars Are Alive, and ... Well?

Maracle was also known for her writing, most notably her essay titled "A Journey in Gender" for being the "most artistically exciting new director in the country." In 2003, she received an award from the National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation (now known as Indspire). CKUT 90.3 FM. October 9, 2014. Maracle, Aiyyana. "Performance Art and the Native Artist: an rEvolutionary Mix?" Disgruntled: Other Art. Vancouver: Grunt Gallery, 2015. Maracle, Aiyyana. "Perils of Pauline opera." The Vancouver Sun, December 18, 1999.