Janice Wright Cheney

The Lucivee

The cougar once roamed the woodlands of Eastern North America, but today, industrial forestry practice has nearly destroyed any remaining viable cougar habitat. Now, the cougar exists only in our collective memory, except for the occasional (and much contested) sighting.

The word “lucivee” is an archaic French-Canadian term for large, wild cats, including cougars. Acadian in origin, the word was also adapted by Indigenous people and English settlers. The title Lucivee was chosen deliberately to link the species to the Wabanaki-Acadian forest bioregion.  

This series, which includes photographs, a sculptural diorama and a short film, pays homage to the “Hunt of the Unicorn” tapestries: like the unicorn, the cougar is mythical, rare and elusive.