Saira Coye-Huhn

Saira Coye-Huhn is an artist, Indigenous rights advocate, a proud Belizean American of Yucatec Maya descent and a recent NYU grad. Saira creates her art and poetry for herself and her ancestors as a therapeutic way to connect with them and her culture and as a form of resistance. They recently published their first poem, “Grandmother,” in the book Harmonizing Latina Visions and Voices.

The Moon means everything to me. Ix Chel is the Maya Moon goddess who is very dear to me. I don’t see her as a “goddess” like people see Greek gods. She is a natural force/energy connecting me to my Indigenous roots in Belize. I look to Ix Chel (Lady Rainbow) for guidance, hope and light. She reminds me of who I am, my ancestors and my life’s beauty. The drawing is my girlfriend, with the Moon’s rainbow crown lighting up her hair, done in colored pencils, tea, silver leaf and fire, inspired by the codices lost to the Inquisition.