We could talk about the elaborate costumes, and the equally elaborate ways she has of removing them so as to delight the eye. We could talk about her background in musical theatre, and how that discipline’s fusion of dance, speech, and song informs her current work. We could talk about her recent triumph at the New Orleans Burlesque Festival, where she became the first Indigenous woman to be named the genre’s reigning queen. But maybe the fastest way to get to know Lauren Ashley Jiles, the burlesque star otherwise known as Lou Lou la Duchesse de Rière, is to take a look at what’s written on her body.

More specifically, the tattoo that covers most of her upper back, an impressive design that incorporates perfect orbs, swirling curves, and some text that only a special few will be able to read.

“It’s basically an ode to my family in Kahnawake,” Jiles explains in a telephone interview from Chicago, where she’s performing. “I found an artist from Spain that specialized in mandala work; he was really good with symmetry, and also line work, which I really like. So I sent him some pictures of beadwork symbols, and then I sat down with him and explained the patterns that we use in our beadwork, and what each symbol means. So it’s kind of like a modern reimagining of these beadwork symbols, and then in Mohawk it says ‘She was raised by wolves.’ I am from the Wolf clan, and I was raised by my mom, my grandma, and my aunts, so the tattoo is also dedicated to the women in my family.”

If you’re getting the picture that there’s more to the Montreal-based Jiles than meets the eye, you’re right. Yes, she’s mastered the classic burlesque tropes: the catwalk sway, the knowing tease, the flashing, untameable fire of her eyes. And, yes, she’s adding some gymnastic moves to the repertoire, most recently through studying aerial dance and other rope work. But behind the act is serious intent: her aim is not only to look good, but to help Indigenous women reclaim their sexuality as central to their existence.

That, she explains, is the gist of her favourite on-stage routine.

“I took this act that uses a very classic burlesque costume, which is a ridiculously extravagant robe, and a gown, and gloves—all the staples of a classic burlesque costume—but I’m dancing to the music of [Indigenous hip-hop stars] A Tribe Called Red,” she explains. “And then burlesque centres around the idea of the unexpected reveal, so I wear a turban—which, again, is very old-school burlesque garb—but when I take the turban off I have braids that go down to the floor. For me, in times of trouble women braid their hair to centre us, to ground us, and to keep ourselves close to Mother Earth. So there are a lot of nods to traditional teachings in that act, but it’s also aggressively modern, and aggressively, unapologetically sexual.”

There’s also a link, she notes, to the work of contemporary Indigenous artists, especially that of the painter and performance artist Kent Monkman. “I admire Kent’s work specifically because he really has fun in addressing some really dark and upsetting themes,” Jiles says. “There’s a playfulness and a trickster quality to [his drag character] Miss Chief Eagle Testickle, and I think that’s also what burlesque is. It’s comical, and it’s not to be taken too seriously, but in all that fun there can be a veiled layer of serious messages.

“Burlesque is basically satirical sexual pageantry,” she adds. “That’s how I describe my job.”

Lou Lou la Duchesse de Rière performs at the Vancouver International Burlesque Festival, at the Vancouver Playhouse on April 5 and 6.