We Carry the Land is an architectural exploration of space, time, and form born from an alignment of varied Indigenous foundational ways of being, designed for and installed in the M&A x Craft Contemporary Courtyard during the Summer of 2024. Rooted in the sacredness of the natural world and informed by experiences of territorial geographic relocation, the project presents a spatial identity of what it means to be a part of the Indigenous diaspora; grounded, yet simultaneously flexible.

Through material and structural engagements with existing infrastructure, the project introduced a fluctuating experience of the sacred and intimate to the courtyard. An existing circle inscribed in the concrete ground, the remnant of a primary entry revolving door for a building that once stood in the space, became an anchor for the spatial intervention. In its place, a new circle was built up with heavy earth and juxtaposed with the soft lightness of a flowing curtain system above. While the earthen material highlighted the circle, a unifying symbol in various Indigenous cultures, the curtain system extended across the courtyard, representing expansive transformation and the dynamism of movements and exchanges between pasts and possible futures.

We Carry the Land presented the two-fold idea of anomaly: the paradoxical notion of a dynamic ground plane and the enduring presence of American Indian peoples despite efforts of erasure.

We Carry the Land is designed by six emerging Native architectural and graphic designers. Recognizing the diversity of Indian Tribes, individual identities, and shared experiences with U.S. Indian laws and policies, the group work reflects a coming together of unique communities, spatial experiences with multiple lands and waters, archival work, and traditional and new technologies.