Faust Gallery
Aspen Decker
Ledger Artist & Language Educator
Aspen Decker
Aspen Decker is an enrolled member of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes (t̓at̓ʔayáqn, Qlispè, & Ksanka) and a speaker of her tribal language, Nsélišcn ‘Salish Language.’ Her passion for the language began in childhood, learning from her elders—primarily Patlik Pierre, who taught her the importance of carrying Salish language and culture forward. She honors those teachings by raising her children in the language as first-language Salish speakers.
Decker earned a bachelor’s degree in Tribal Historic Preservation from Salish Kootenai College in 2018 and a master’s degree in linguistics from the University of Montana in 2021. She holds a Montana Class 7 Native American Language and Culture Educator License and has taught Salish for ten years.
She owns Xwlxwilt ‘Alive and Well,’ a company dedicated to language revitalization and cultural preservation through education, art, and consulting. Its work centers on genuine Indigenous education and on bringing Native voice into Western institutions.
“Ancestral Indigenous knowledge and language are at the heart of my work. As a Salish speaker and storyteller, I create ledger art on antique maps that reflect Sqelixw ‘Indigenous’ ways of knowing and emphasize cultural preservation, language revitalization, storytelling, and Plains Indian Sign Language.”
Aspen Decker, Artist Statement
Education & Credentials
- 2021 Master’s degree, Linguistics, University of Montana
- 2018 Bachelor’s degree, Tribal Historic Preservation, Salish Kootenai College
- Montana Class 7 Native American Language and Culture Educator License
- Ten years teaching Nsélišcn (Salish)
- Owner, Xwlxwilt ‘Alive and Well’
Faust Gallery is proud to represent the work of Aspen Decker, whose ledger drawings on antique maps carry Salish language and story back onto the land itself.