No present without the past. No equality without feminism. Shirley Bear has depicted everything from feminist to rights issues, from appeals to the UN to Oka. Nekt wikuhpon ehpit: Once there lived a woman: The Painting, Poetry and Politics of Shirley Bear chronicles the sources, inspiration, and personal circumstances that have shaped Shirley Bear's visual art, poetry, and political activism and presents the integral relationship amongst these important activities in her life.