Indigenous Success Stories: First Nations

Canada Council for the Arts announced winners across 7 categories, in both official languages

Cassandra Szklarski · The Canadian Press · Posted: Nov 13, 2024 8:23 AM EST | Last Updated: November 13

CBC Indigenous: The Canadian Press – When Niigaan Sinclair pitched his collection of articles to a Toronto publisher, he was told Winipek: Visions of Canada from an Indigenous Centre was a “regional book.”

The Winnipeg-based Anishinaabe columnist and editor recalls being told to expect scant attention outside major urban centres, so he wasn’t surprised to see “like 80 per cent” of his sales come from Manitoba, northwestern Ontario and Saskatchewan.

But on Wednesday, Sinclair was assured the book had indeed resonated well beyond its geographical setting, winning the Governor General’s Literary Award for non-fiction.

“They didn’t even do book launches for me in the rest of the country. And then boom, this all kind of hits. I think the country’s responded,” Sinclair says from Winnipeg in a video call.

Sinclair makes an estimable list announced Wednesday morning that includes fiction winner Jordan Abel of Edmonton for the allegorical novel Empty Spaces, and poetry winner Chimwemwe Undi of Winnipeg for Scientific Marvel.

Abel, a queer Nisga’a writer from Vancouver, says he suspected the unusual approach he took for his debut novel would pose a barrier to some audiences. Empty Spaces contains no characters nor dialogue in its examination of Indigenous relationships with lands, displacement and diaspora. Winning the fiction prize put those concerns to rest.

“This award is incredibly affirming, you know, in that [this book has] done good things in the world, people are interested in it. Not everyone’s afraid of the difficulty and that’s a really good feeling,” Abel says from Edmonton, where he’s an associate professor in English at the University of Alberta.

“All writing is political, and I think this book is deeply political. So I was hoping for that, or at least hoping for an opening of a conversation. And it is tough from an author’s perspective to figure out whether or not that happens but I hope that it has and that there are conversations that continue out of this book.”

While on the surface he says Empty Spaces can be described as an Indigenous response to James Fenimore Cooper’s The Last of the Mohicans, he says it explores an argument posited by author Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz that Cooper’s book was instrumental in nullifying the guilt related to Indigenous peoples in America, and is the backbone of U.S. nationalism.

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It’s a timely idea, given the hateful rhetoric leading up to and surrounding the most recent U.S. presidential election, notes Abel.

“The work in Empty Spaces is not disconnected from the current political climate in America. I can absolutely see the two in conversation with each other,” says Abel.

The Canada Council for the Arts announced winners across seven categories, in both official languages, for a total of 14 awards.

The writers, translators and illustrators of winning books get $25,000 and finalists receive $1,000 each. Publishers of winning books get $3,000 to promote them.

The drama prize went to There Is Violence and There Is Righteous Violence and There Is Death, or the Born-Again Crow, by Calgary’s Caleigh Crow, while the French-to-English translation prize went to Nights Too Short to Dance by Katia Grubisic of Montreal (Second Story Press); a translation of Un cœur habité de mille voix by Marie-Claire Blais.

In the categories for young people’s literature, the text award went to Crash Landing by Li Charmaine Anne of New Westminster, B.C. (Annick Press), while the illustrated books prize went to Skating Wild on an Inland Sea by Jean E. Pendziwol of Thunder Bay, Ont., and Todd Stewart of Montreal (Groundwood Books, House of Anansi).

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Sinclair, too, hopes his book can spark conversation over efforts to address Indigenous injustice and violence in Winipek — a region that extends beyond Winnipeg to encompass the watershed and parts of other provinces.

“There’s other places that are doing important work but the most critical issue is being addressed daily here — not so much in Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa,” says Sinclair, a professor in the Native Studies department at University of Manitoba.

“The kind of front line of Canada has always been Winipek — this territory right here, the first province, first treaty.”

Sinclair says the vast majority of the articles in his book were originally written between 2018 and 2023, although some date as far back as 2009.

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He says much has changed in those intervening years, most notably a growing attention and interest in Indigenous writing overall — such as those by Abel, Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew and that of his late father Murray Sinclair, chief commissioner of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission into residential schools.

“There has been a massive amount of interest and engagement. I think the level of the competency of the country has risen,” he says.

At the same time, he’s detected a “very vociferous” and “very vocal minority” of residential school denialists.

“It’s no coincidence that just at the moment that Indigenous Peoples are being listened to there is an equal and opposite force that then begins to say, ‘Don’t listen to them,”‘ he says.

“There’s never needed to be a force that said, ‘Don’t listen to them,’ because that’s how the society ran.”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Cassandra Szklarski, Reporter

Cassandra Szklarski is a reporter with The Canadian Press.

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NationTalk: (Toronto, ON) – Canada’s Walk of Fame, the nation’s premiere celebration of Canadian excellence, proudly announces William Prince as this year’s recipient of the Allan Slaight Music Impact Honour, an annual recognition that celebrates the achievements of Canadian musicians who have used their voices and talent to inspire and drive positive impact in the music industry.

With four award-winning albums to date, William’s body of work traces his remarkable journey from Peguis First Nation to the country’s biggest stages. Guided by a practical yet profound gratitude, his songs radiate grace and generosity.

William’s career is marked by numerous accolades and milestones, including a debut at The Grand Ole Opry, multiple JUNO Awards and international award recognition including the John Prine Songwriting Fellowship. He has shared bills with legends like Neil Young, Norah Jones and Sarah McLachlan, performed two Tiny Desk sessions and more. From national network television appearances to his collaborations with some of Canada’s biggest stars including The Tragically Hip and Serena Ryder, William is one of the country’s most beloved and celebrated songwriters. Beyond his albums and achievements, he has used his voice to make a meaningful contribution to our collective legacy—from hosting A Day to Listen to penning an original song for the 40th Anniversary of Terry Fox’s Marathon of Hope.

Alan Doyle, celebrated singer-songwriter and frontman of Great Big Sea, will honour William Prince with a special performance of one of his songs during Canada’s Walk of Fame Celebration on Wednesday, November 20, at Toronto’s Liberty Grand. The event will recognize Prince alongside previously announced Inductee Dr. Frank J. Hayden and this year’s Canada’s Walk of Fame National Hero, Danielle Campo.

On behalf of the board of directors of Canada’s Walk of Fame, Randy Lennox said, “William Prince is a remarkable storyteller whose contributions to Canadian music, both as a celebrated artist and an advocate for meaningful causes, transcends boundaries and speaks to the heart of the human experience. We are proud to recognize his talent, his spirit, and the lasting legacy he is creating for generations to come.”

“I am thrilled to hear that William Prince will be receiving the Allan Slaight Music Impact Honour this year,” says Gary Slaight, President & CEO of The Slaight Family Foundation. “Throughout his career, my father Allan championed Canadian artists going back to when Gordon Lightfoot was starting off.  Notably, he also built a broadcasting empire that included radio and television. While doing this, he never wavered in his philanthropic support, donating tens of millions of dollars to the Canadian Arts and organizations that offered support to the needy in Canada and in developing countries.  Through his music William shares the stories of his family and community through the lens of support and love which is very inspiring. He has used his talents to support causes that benefits others and by doing so, makes him very deserving of The Allan Slaight Music Impact Honour.”

Launched in 2010, the Allan Slaight Music Impact Honour is an annual recognition that celebrates the achievements of Canadian musicians who have used their voices and talent to inspire and drive positive impact in the music industry. Honourees include Kardinal Offishall (2023), Arkells (2022), Serena Ryder (2021), Alessia Cara (2019), Jesse Reyez (2018), Shawn Hook (2017), Brett Kissel (2016), Shawn Mendes (2015), The Weeknd (2014), Carly Rae Jepsen (2013), Melanie Fiona (2012), Drake (2011), and Nikki Yanofsky (2010).

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Canada’s Walk of Fame gratefully acknowledges the support of its 2024 Partners: Seeing Red, Cineplex Entertainment, The Slaight Family Foundation, RBC, Air Canada, MLSE, Scotiabank, NBCUniversal, VIA Rail Canada, Next Magazine, The Printing House, and Wildeboer Dellelce LLP.

About Canada’s Walk of Fame

Canada’s Walk of Fame is an award-winning national not-for-profit charitable organization that inspires Canadians by proudly shining a light on the journeys of Canada’s most extraordinary achievers. Canada’s Walk of Fame recognizes the significant impact of Canadian accomplishments and provides the foremost national platform to celebrate achievement in the fields of Arts & Entertainment, Sports & Athletics, Entrepreneurship & Philanthropy, Humanitarianism, and Science, Technology & Innovation. Current honours and programs include the Allan Slaight Music Impact Honour, the RBC Emerging Musician Program, NBCUniversal and Seeing Red Media Future Storytellers program, the Community Hero and National Hero Programs, the Hometown Stars initiative, including charitable donations to our Inductees’ causes, and the nationally televised broadcast designated by the CRTC as a program of national interest. Canada’s Walk of Fame has over 230 inductions to date, with stars having a permanent place of tribute on the streets of Toronto’s Entertainment District. For a complete list of Inductees and Honourees along with more information on Canada’s Walk of Fame, visit: www.canadaswalkoffame.com

Canada’s Walk of Fame was established in 1998 by founders Bill Ballard, Dusty Cohl and Peter Soumalias, with Dianne Schwalm and in partnership with Gary Slaight.

Canada’s Walk of Fame is a registered charity. Charitable Registration Number 889896924RR0001.

About Slaight Family Foundation

The Slaight Family Foundation was established in 2008 by John Allan Slaight. Allan Slaight is known as Canada’s broadcast pioneer, music leader and a prominent Canadian philanthropist. Through his generosity, the Foundation proactively supports charitable initiatives in the areas of healthcare, at-risk youth, international development, social services and culture.

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Media Contact: Adrienne Kakoullis, Rise PR, 416-450-6637 / akakoullis@risepr.ca

The Anishinaabe artist’s work reflects Indigenous realities with haunting resonance.

The Tyee: The 20th annual Audain Prize ceremony, which took place at the Hotel Vancouver this fall, was a suitably grand affair. There was a Scottish bagpiper, various government ministers and a catered lunch for the well-heeled and powerful. It felt a world away from the grinding, messy, uncertain work of making art. 

Established in 2004, the Audain Prize for the Visual Arts is given annually to a senior Canadian artist. Past recipients have included Liz Magor, Gordon Smith, Gathie Falk, Paul Wong and Dana Claxton. 

The 2024 winner of the $100,000 prize was Rebecca Belmore. 

A member of the Lac Seul First Nation from Anishinaabe territories in northwestern Ontario, Belmore’s practice has taken her around the globe. Along the way, she has collected awards and honours including honorary doctorates from the Ontario College of Art and Design University and Emily Carr University of Art + Design. In addition to the Audain Prize, Belmore has been recognized with the Jack and Doris Shadbolt Foundation’s VIVA Award, the Hnatyshyn Foundation Visual Arts Award, the 2013 Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts and the Gershon Iskowitz Prize. 

Maybe it’s this chasm between the glittering stuff of awards and the practice of making art that feels so surreal, even if you’re on the sidelines watching it all happen. Being in the centre with all its attendant pageantry must feel particularly strange, but Belmore is equanimous about her most recent national award.

On the phone from her studio in Vancouver — she splits her time between Toronto and B.C. — Belmore is straightforward. “There’s no EI, or social assistance, when you’re an artist,” she states matter-of-factly. “There’s no guarantee. That’s the risk.” 

Money is useful, in that it affords time and opportunity to make more work. And Belmore has always been an artist of labour, whether it’s the effort of bringing something new into being or the blunt, brute stuff of survival. Over the course of her career, she has used the most basic of materials: a bucket, a hammer, dirt, nails, things that people understand and can relate to. 

In one of her earliest works, Rising to the Occasion, created to coincide with an official royal visit to Thunder Bay in 1987, Belmore constructed a Victorian dress out of fabric, teacup saucers, chicken wire and sticks. Part of a performance/parade called Twelve Angry Crinolines, the event was staged alongside the ceremonies to welcome the then-Duke and Duchess of York. The dress combined monarchist trinkets (silver spoons, souvenir mugs) with a beaver dam bustle. 

Made for $50, the original dress ended up getting tossed out, but when curators asked if the work could be included in an exhibition, Belmore admitted that she’d thrown it away and had to recreate it again, with slightly better materials. The reconstruction took on new life as a sculpture, but the intent to make explicit the complex assemblage that is Indigenous and colonial history remained. 

“I’m an artist of ideas,” she explains. 

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Nothing makes this more evident than her massive 2018 retrospective Facing the Monumental, a collection of three decades of work, performances, sculptures, photographs and installations. I saw the show when it was at the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal. It blew me away, not just the scale and breadth of the idea explored, but the staggering amounts of beauty that emerge from some of the darkest chapters in Canadian history. 

She sees her role as one of bearing witness, as is made plain in her artist’s statement about her retrospective: “For decades I have been working as the artist amongst my people, calling to the past, witnessing the present, standing forward, facing the monumental.” 

Be it the intimate acts of violation perpetuated against Indigenous bodies or greater historical wrongs, the overarching ideas and issues that have marked Belmore’s work are often rendered in ordinary, even commonplace materials. This approach offers an ease of access that belies the challenging ideas contained within. 

In artist (No. 2), a large-scale photograph features Belmore, dressed in brightly coloured safety gear, facing a large expanse of orange tarpaulins that stretch over a construction site in Winnipeg. The orange covering is seemingly endless, rearing up and outwards to the sky. The visual alone is compelling enough, but there is a deeper meaning embedded in the image. The fluorescent X that marks the back of Belmore’s jacket offers a not-so-oblique connection to Canada’s colonial past, where Indigenous people were forced to sign land treaties with an X. 

Many of Belmore’s works are so beautifully fashioned that you don’t notice initially what they embody until you’re knee-deep in the middle of the experience. Nothing makes this more explicit than Fringe. 

The photographic installation was inspired by a story of an Indigenous woman who had gone into hospital for back surgery. To pass the time, she had brought her beading work with her. After waking up from the procedure, she noticed that the surgeon had sewn some of her beads into the sutures along her spine without her permission. 

The resulting image, a lone woman lying prone, a long scar following the curve of her back, contains both horror and a strange form of beauty. Belmore conceived of the image as a form of healing and ultimately resilience. 

A similar kind of endurance has marked Belmore’s work from the beginning. 

Unless you have a day job teaching or some other means of making a living, to be a working artist in Canada can be a licence for poverty. Belmore has always been on the side of the disenfranchised, whether it’s refugees or the unhoused. “I went for a drive yesterday to Abbotsford, and there’s quite a large tent city,” she tells me. She goes on to speculate how people access services and survive. 

This yawning division between the wealthy and the poor is at the centre of many of her works, including Biinjiya’iing Onji (From Inside). 

Created for the 2017 documenta exhibition in Athens, Greece, the installation consisted of a marble tent installed atop a hillside in direct line of sight of the Acropolis. The actual structure was large enough to accommodate a few people sitting inside. 

In the description of the work, Belmore stated, “The shape of the tent is, for me, reminiscent of the wigwam dwellings that are part of my history as an Indigenous person.” The tent has arguably moved from an object of recreation (camping trips, hiking) to one of basic survival for people around the world. 

Working in different media — performance, sculpture, photography — has afforded Belmore a scope and scale to encompass intractable issues, from murdered and missing Indigenous women to starlight tours. It is often the simplest materials and the most direct gestures that sink the deepest. 

Created as part of the 2016 Nuit Blanche at the Art Gallery of Ontario, Clay on Stone took place over the course of 12 hours, as Belmore worked overnight covering the AGO courtyard in a wash of red clay inscribed with the words “land,” “breath” and “water,” before those too were wiped away into a wider expanse of abstraction. 

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As Belmore’s work has evolved and developed, she says that involving active collaborators is something she is open to. Sometimes her collaborators are friends and family; her sister often photographs her performances. Other times, they are ordinary people. In 2014, Belmore created trace for the Canadian Museum for Human Rights. She worked with high school students and the general public to produce clay beads that bear the imprint of the human hands that made them. 

Belmore assembled the individual beads into the shape of a large blanket. The intent was to make visible the largely obscured history of the land upon which the museum was situated. Both the immediate and the accessible combined with remarkable scale and the immensity of time (some 6,000 years of human activity). The work was an indelible reminder of the long-standing relationship that Indigenous people share with the land itself. 

Belmore explained the concept in an interview with Border Crossingsmagazine: “Trace exists between the individual and the community. What it pulls together is the idea that we are a people — we all belong to a shared community.” 

The past and present tangle inextricably together in Belmore’s performances, installations and images. The ultimate effect is resonant, haunting experience: art in its truest form.

Dorothy Woodend, The Tyee

Dorothy Woodend is the culture editor for The Tyee. 

tAre you part of The Tyee’s critical 1%?

Thanks for reading this article from The Tyee. I hope it added something to your day. If we haven’t met yet, The Tyee is an independent, non-profit news outlet based in Vancouver, B.C. We’ve been around since 2003 and our team publishes original in-depth articles every single weekday.

You are able to access all of The Tyee’s articles — free of charge — because our non-profit newsroom is supported by thousands of supporters of independent journalism. We call them Tyee Builders, and they contribute an amount that works for them.

Why do we call them “Tyee Builders”? Because they literally help build The Tyee. As our reader contributions grow, we invest all of it back into more original journalism, and adding more talented researchers, writers and editors to our team.

Only about 1 per cent of people who regularly read The Tyee contribute financially, but amazingly, that’s enough to cover half of our total budget. Just 1 per cent of people chipping in means that the other 99 per cent get to enjoy open access to fact-based journalism published by a trusted, independent news organization.

Public interest journalism is vital for our democracy, but the sad truth is that newsrooms across Canada are struggling, and laying off more and more journalists each year. Support from our readers means that we can keep our newsroom staffed, resourced, and showing up every day with new original stories that you won’t read anywhere else. It also means that we are accountable to you first, not shareholders (we don’t have any) or corporate backers (we don’t have any of those, either).

Be a part of making Canadian media better and join Tyee Builders today. You choose the amount and frequency you give, and you can cancel at any time.

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An extraordinary retrospective of her career is a study in humour, generosity and the power of female-led societies.

The Tyee: It’s a bit of an unusual experience to laugh out loud in the hushed environs of an art gallery. But 500 Year Itch, the retrospective of artist Shelley Niro’s work at the Vancouver Art Gallery, is filled with puckish humour, pointed irony and good belly laughs.

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Niro’s work contends with 500 years of colonization and its attendant ravages. Humour might seem an unlikely tool in such a situation, but it is surprisingly effective. 

Born in Niagara Falls, New York, Niro grew up on the Six Nations territory (close to what’s known as Brantford, Ontario). A member of the Turtle Clan of the Kanien’kehá:ka (Mohawk) Nation, she works in a wide variety of disciplines including painting, photography, film, performance and sculpture. 

In keeping with the breadth of her creative output, 500 Year Itch is expansive. During the introduction to the show, the co-curators explained the process of choosing from over 400 of the artist’s works. This alone is something of a mammoth undertaking, and the result is a show that spans more than four decades of Niro’s career with wit, intelligence and crackling amounts of beauty.

After a stint at the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian in New York, the show toured to the Art Gallery of Hamilton and the National Art Gallery before its current incarnation at the Vancouver Art Gallery. If you plan to partake of the VAG’s exhibition, give yourself plenty of time: there’s a lot to take in, including a number of Niro’s short films. 

In the more than 70 works in the show, elements of craft like beadwork take as much space and importance as more conventional modes of making art, such as oil painting. Organized thematically by the artist’s areas of interest, sections entitled “Matriarchy,” “Actors,” “Family Relations” and “Past Is Present” encompass the power of Indigenous women and girls, family relations, history, land and the very stuff of creation itself. 

This might sound weighty. But Niro’s good humour finds its way into almost everything that she makes. This approach, while accessible, often lends a subversive edge that cuts close to the bone. Even as you’re laughing, something catches in your throat. 

Stolen land

No work is more emblematic of Niro’s approach than The Shirt. In a series of large-scale images, the artist’s friend Hulleah J. Tsinhnahjinnie stands against a generic background. There is nothing remarkable about the landscape, other than that it appears to be parcelled out into subdivisions. 

The work was prompted by a plane trip that Niro took to Texas to attend a photography conference. Looking down at the countryside, gridded and divided into neat and tidy packets, Niro was struck by how the land was carved into easily commodified sections, the better to be bought and sold. The traditional territories of Indigenous people were almost entirely erased in this process. 

In a visual riposte to this form of obliteration and erasure, The Shirt presents a series of images consisting of Tsinhnahjinnie standing alone. Dressed in a bandana patterned with the American flag, her eyes hidden by aviator sunglasses, she fixes the camera with a flat, unaffected stare. In each successive photograph, her pose changes little, but the words on her plain white T-shirt tell a different story. 

In one image, the emblazoned text reads: “My ancestors were annihalated [sic], exterminated, murdered, and massacred.”

The full extent of the genocide perpetrated against Indigenous people is faithfully delineated in blocks of black text on the white background of a souvenir T-shirt, until that too is snatched from her back, leaving her half-naked, her arms folded across her breasts, an expression of startled surprise on her face.

The visual joke of getting your shirt stolen right off your back is readily apparent, but the crowning photo isn’t one of bitterness and aggrievement, but something quite different. 

The final photograph features Tsinhnahjinnie’s wife Veronica Passalacqua grinning at the camera, one hand tucked saucily on her hip. A certain kind of defiant humour is at work. Or maybe more correctly, a form of flinty optimism, along the lines of “Never let the bastards get you down.” 

It’s a sentiment that is foundational to the artist’s ancestry. 

The memory of lost homeland

Initiated in 2017 at the Art Gallery of Hamilton, the idea for 500 Year Itch as a touring exhibition was prompted in part by Niro’s installation 1779. The title was derived from the infamous date of the Sullivan Expedition, a particularly nasty moment in the American Revolution when the Indigenous people from what is now upstate New York (Mohawk Valley) were forced from their traditional territory. 

The stated intent of the American forces under the command of George Washington was “the total destruction and devastation of their settlements.” With their villages burned and crops destroyed, the Haudenosaunee people fled north, finding a new home near Ontario’s Grand River. The memory of this lost homeland was handed down through the generations. Niro’s grandmother and her father talked about the beauty of the Mohawk Valley, the irony being that neither had actually lived there.

From historic horror, Niro fashions another way to see and understand the past. 

In a self-portrait entitled Seeing with My Memory, the artist depicts herself along the Grand River, near Tutela Heights. It was a place that her father took the family when Niro was a child. 

As a site of story, familial history and comfort, a warmth and deep affection is embedded in the landscape. This abiding connection is embodied in the smile on Niro’s face as she leans against a tree, the staggering beauty of the place blazing in its full glory just over her shoulder. 

Iconic women

Niro often photographs her family members, including her aunties, sisters and herself. Her images offer gentle pokes at pop culture, from Marilyn Monroe’s iconic white dress, cheekily recreated by the artist to refer to the uneasy marriage between Indigenous people and colonizers, to a photo series that features Niro and her sisters donning red heels and sunglasses in Mohawks and Beehives (1991), having a riot posing for the camera. 

It is Niro’s mother, June Chiquita Doxtater, who gives the show a kick in the pants in a work entitled The Rebel. Emblazoned on the exterior of the Vancouver Art Gallery, it is iconic in a few different ways. 

As Niro explained, the genesis of the photo was her mother hopping onto the back of a muscle car (an AMC Rebel, to be exact) and stretching out in a pin-up pose. 

It is not only a charming image, rippling with humour and generosity, but also an invitation into the relationship between mother and daughter, and, most critically, an upending of the narratives of suffering and horror that often mark the stories of Indigenous women. Fun, silliness, affection overflow. 

A similar convergence of emotions occurs in a series featuring the artist’s sister Bunny. In large-scale photos, Bunny grapples with an existential crisis about the history of Indigenous people and the complexity of the world, all before emerging with a sense of buoyancy and determined optimism. 

As Niro explained in the preview, the emotional movement contained in the series is akin to the tide: it comes in and then goes back out. 

Skywoman and the beginnings of the world

The resiliency of women is foundational not only to the show but to the Haudenosaunee people. In this aspect, another narrative motif that figures large, extremely large, is the story of Skywoman. It is a creation myth from a decidedly matrilineal perspective. 

In M: Stories of Women, Niro recreates the story of Skywoman and the creation of the world in a series of photo collages. The origins of the work, described by Niro in an earlier incarnation, situates the story of Skywoman as both mythic and contemporary. 

The set-up is this: A young beautiful pregnant woman lives in the night sky constellation known as Pleiades…. Skywoman’s dying husband asks her to get him a drink of water from the forbidden Tree of Life. She doesn’t want to see him suffer anymore and makes the trip to the tree hoping it will heal him. As she arrives, a big gust of wind blows the tree over leaving a hole in the ground where it once stood. The wind knocks her into the hole making her try to grab the roots. In an attempt to grab onto something she grabs strawberry and tobacco plants instead. She begins her long lonely journey through darkness…. Our legacy starts in the skyworld. Through an act of accident, we are now inhabiting a world where we faced those everyday challenges and have found ways to thrive and survive.

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As a female-led society, Haudenosaunee culture takes its shape and form from this foundational story. The characters in the M series are played by Niro’s friends, family and the artist herself. 

Niro’s then-pregnant daughter Naoga takes on the role of Skywoman, complete with stiletto heels and a swollen belly. More oblique references to this mythic female figure pop up in unexpected fashion in the form of aviator caps, and other images that recall flying and falling women.

The layers of personal and cultural history, embroidered and embellished with beadwork, quills, painting and collage, are so densely and lovingly assembled that you almost don’t want to pick them apart. So don’t. 

Let the generous amounts of humour, intimacy and something even more profound, equanimity and peace with the universe, spill over you in waves of joy and beauty. Scratch that itch with extraordinary art. 

‘Shelley Niro: 500 Year Itch’ runs until Feb. 17, 2025, at the Vancouver Art Gallery. 

Dorothy Woodend, The Tyee

Dorothy Woodend is the culture editor for The Tyee.

Are you part of The Tyee’s critical 1%?

Thanks for reading this article from The Tyee. I hope it added something to your day. If we haven’t met yet, The Tyee is an independent, non-profit news outlet based in Vancouver, B.C. We’ve been around since 2003 and our team publishes original in-depth articles every single weekday.

You are able to access all of The Tyee’s articles — free of charge — because our non-profit newsroom is supported by thousands of supporters of independent journalism. We call them Tyee Builders, and they contribute an amount that works for them.

Why do we call them “Tyee Builders”? Because they literally help build The Tyee. As our reader contributions grow, we invest all of it back into more original journalism, and adding more talented researchers, writers and editors to our team.

Only about 1 per cent of people who regularly read The Tyee contribute financially, but amazingly, that’s enough to cover half of our total budget. Just 1 per cent of people chipping in means that the other 99 per cent get to enjoy open access to fact-based journalism published by a trusted, independent news organization.

Public interest journalism is vital for our democracy, but the sad truth is that newsrooms across Canada are struggling, and laying off more and more journalists each year. Support from our readers means that we can keep our newsroom staffed, resourced, and showing up every day with new original stories that you won’t read anywhere else. It also means that we are accountable to you first, not shareholders (we don’t have any) or corporate backers (we don’t have any of those, either).

Be a part of making Canadian media better and join Tyee Builders today. You choose the amount and frequency you give, and you can cancel at any time.

— Jeanette Ageson, publisher

Join Tyee Builders 

Logan Staats, a Mohawk musician from Six Nations like Robertson, part of the show

CBC News: A list of stars turned out for a five-hour tribute concert to legendary Mohawk musician Robbie Robertson in Los Angeles last week, including Eric Clapton, Van Morrison, Mavis Staples and Eric Church. 

Robertson, the guitarist and principal songwriter of The Band, died on Aug. 9, 2023, at age 80.

The event Oct. 17 was recorded by Oscar-winning director Martin Scorsese with plans to release a film later. Scorsese previously directed The Last Waltz, a documentary of The Band’s last performance in 1976. 

The event also included Mohawk folk and soul musician, Logan Staats. Like Robertson, Staats’s family comes from Six Nations of the Grand River near Hamilton. 

Staats said performing at the tribute was one of the highlights of his career so far. 

“But the most proud moment for me was I was able to sneak a Six Nations flag onto the stage and wave the Haudenosaunee flag during my set and then just hearing the response from the crowd,” he said.

“The whole crowd just roared … it almost choked me up a little bit.”

Staats said his grandmother ensured he knew of Robertson’s own Mohawk heritage. 

“I find so many just parallels between me and him, especially him not right away knowing so much about his culture and him having to go through that process of reclamation, very similar to my story.”

• Robbie Robertson: Remembering the famed storyteller and his roots in Six Nations, Ont.
• Martin Scorsese to direct Robbie Robertson tribute concert film

Performing in the tribute in front of 18,000 people in Los Angeles made Staats nervous, he said.  

“I know how much he means to our community and so many Indigenous musicians so for me, it was just a heavy load to carry, and I really wanted to put my best foot forward and do the best that I could,” Staats said. 

The Band and Roberston’s work were some of Staats’s earliest memories of music.

“It was kind of the soundtrack to my life,” he said. 

Proceeds to help promote Haudenosaunee culture

Part of the proceeds from the tribute concert will go to the Woodland Cultural Centre, which aims to preserve, promote and strengthen Indigenous language, culture, art and history. The centre is based in the former Mohawk Institute residential school building in Brantford, Ont.

“I think it’s so important, you know, that still after Robbie’s passing, he’s still contributing to our art scene and he’s still building our people up,” Staats said.   

Heather George, the centre’s executive director, said receiving funds from the tribute was a testament to the importance of the centre nationally and internationally. 

Following Robertson’s death in 2023, his family asked for donations to the Woodland Cultural Centre in lieu of flowers. 

George said Robertson’s long term commitment to the centre highlights the importance of spaces for artists to grow and thrive, adding the centre even houses one of the Junos Robertson won during his career.

The centre is in the midst of a capital campaign for a new building that will include a gallery space, theatre and workshop spaces for artists to practise their skills in the community.

The funds from the tribute concert will help the centre move forward to better serve artists, George said. 

“We want to do something that represents how beautiful and how talented and creative Haudenosaunee people are.”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Samantha Schwientek

Samantha Schwientek is a reporter with CBC Indigenous based in amiskwacîwâskahikan (Edmonton). She is a member of the Cayuga nation of the Six Nations of the Grand River, and previously worked at CBC Nova Scotia. 

With files from Candace Maracle

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APTN News; The Canadian Press – Ashley Callingbull has become the first Indigenous woman to win Miss Universe Canada.

The 34-year-old model, actress and television host from Enoch Cree Nation in Alberta, was crowned in Windsor, Ont., on Saturday.

Callingbull is currently an in-game host for the National Hockey League, Canadian Football League, and the National Lacrosse League.

She has acted in APTN series “Blackstone” and “Tribal,” and received awards and recognition for her community work and activism.

Callingbull previously broke barriers when she became the first Canadian and Indigenous person to win Mrs. Universe in 2015 and the first Indigenous woman to appear as a Sports Illustrated model in 2022.

She will compete for the title of Miss Universe in Mexico in November.

“This is the most surreal feeling. I’ve been chasing this dream for years and I’m still in awe that it really came true,” Callingbull wrote in a social media post.

“Representation truly matters because when one of us wins, we all win.”

EDMONTON – One of Canada’s greatest painters, who wedded Indigenous elements to the mainstream of modern art, has died. 

By Bob Weber The Canadian Press

Toronto Star: The Canadian Press – EDMONTON – One of Canada’s greatest painters, who wedded Indigenous elements to the mainstream of modern art, has died.

Alex Janvier, whose thousands of works hang in private homes and public galleries across the country, was 89.

“Painting says it all for me,” Janvier said in a statement in 2012. “It is the Redmantalk in colour, in North America’s language. Our Creator’s voice in colour.”

Officials at the Assembly of First Nations annual general meeting announced the death and held a moment of silence in the artist’s honour on Wednesday.

Janvier was born Feb. 28, 1935, on the Cold Lake Indian Reserve, now Cold Lake First Nations, northeast of Edmonton. His father, Harry Janvier, was the band’s last hereditary chief before federal law forced election officials on the band.

One of 10 children, Alex Janvier grew up on the land, hunting, fishing and trapping, as well as farming. At the age of eight, he was sent to the Blue Quills Residential School near St. Paul, Alta.

“That kind of story does a lot of unusual things to your life,” Janvier recalled. “It tears your language, culture and beliefs. They probably removed a lot of it.”

But at the school Janvier had access to pencils, crayons, watercolour paints and lots of paper. By the time he reached his early teens, he was under the tutelage of Carlo Altenberg, an art professor at the University of Alberta, who exposed the young Denesuline to the work of European modernists such as Vassily Kandinsky, Paul Klee and Joan Miro.

After high school, Janvier studied at Alberta’s Provincial School of Technology and Art in Calgary, now the Alberta University of the Arts. He studied with prominent artists, including Illingworth Kerr and Marion Nicoll.

In 1962, after a brief teaching stint, Janvier took up painting full time — a risky proposition for an Indigenous artist when such work was considered of more ethnological than artistic interest. Still, Janvier was able to make a living as a painter, illustrator and occasional instructor.

Janvier married Jacqueline Wolowski in 1968. They would eventually have six children.

In 1973, with other First Nations artists Norval Morrisseau, Daphne Odjig and Jackson Beardy, he helped found the so-called Indian Group of Seven — more formally known as the Professional Native Indian Artists Incorporation — to bring their work to the mainstream.

“We had to open a lot of doors,” Janvier recalled. A show in a Montreal gallery was the group’s first, and others followed.

“We finally got that rubber stamp and other gallery owners started to open their doors.”

Since then, Janvier’s work has been shown in galleries across Canada, as well as in Sweden, Paris, London, New York and Los Angeles.

It is widely collected, and commissioned work hangs in the National Gallery and the Royal Alberta Museum, as well as schools, commercial offices, municipal buildings and band offices from coast to coast.

His massive mosaic, Iron Foot Place, has greeted thousands of hockey fans at Edmonton’s Rogers Place, home of the Edmonton Oilers of the National Hockey League.

He also designed a $200 coin for the Royal Canadian Mint.

Unlike many other First Nations artists of his generation, Janvier’s work tends not to come directly from traditional legends and stories. He draws equally on the patterns and bright colours of traditional Denesuline beadwork and the work of painters such as Kandinsky.

But his renowned flowing lines and intricate designs are all his own.

Though generally abstract, Janvier did react to the world around him on his canvasses.

In 1988, his painting Lubicon, with its shocking reds, expressed his anger at how that First Nation was being treated. He completed a series about his time in the residential school, including one called Apple Factory. The Oka crisis in 1990 inspired him to paint O’Kanada.

He received numerous honorary degrees and awards, including the Order of Canada, the Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation, the Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Medal and membership in the Royal Canadian Academy of the Arts.

In 2003, Janvier and members of his family opened the Janvier Gallery in Cold Lake, not far from where he was born. Visitors could sometimes meet the artist fresh from the studio, covered in paint-splattered jeans and happy to sit and chat.

He painted into his last days, keeping his fingers nimble by assembling jigsaw puzzles at night.

“I am a free man because I can create,” he wrote in 2016. “I thank the Great Spirit for my family and for being able to express myself through my paintings.

“When I die, I want to have a paintbrush in my hand.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 10, 2024.

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Alex Janvier comes full circle with National Gallery retrospective

Alex Janvier at the McMichael: the art of defiance

Anishinaabemowin version follows

NationTalk: Treaty 1 Territory – National Homeland of the Red River Métis – Winnipeg, Man. – The Anishinaabemowin (Ojibwe) version of Star Wars: A New Hope makes its debut August 8, 2024 at Centennial Concert Hall in Winnipeg. Manitoba. Starting on August 10, the film will debut in limited release in Winnipeg and other select markets. Walt Disney Studios Canada is collaborating with exhibitors in Winnipeg and other select markets to offer free screenings for the community.

The Ojibwe dub was directed by Ellyn Stern Epcar, produced by Michael Kohn and stars Aandeg Jedi Muldrew (Luke Skywalker), Ajuawak Kapashesit (Han Solo), Theresa Eischen (Princess Leia), Dennis Daminos Chartrand (Darth Vader), Dustin Gerald Morrow Aagimewikamig (Obi-Wan Kenobi), Tomantha Sylvester Nimi Anungo Kwe (C-3PO), Jeff Monague Myiingan Minaakwhe (Grand Moff Tarkin), John-Paul Chalykoff (Uncle Owen), and Wanda Barker Giwedinoonz (Aunt Beru).

Partners in the project include Dakota Ojibway Tribal Council (DOTC), the University of Manitoba (UM), Disney/Lucasfilm, and APTN. Maeengan Linklater, Director of Operations (DOTC) and Cary Miller, Assistant Professor, Department of Indigenous Studies (UM) served as project leads. Patricia Ningewance, Assistant Professor (UM)/Lead Translator, Dennis Daminos Chartrand, Associate Translator, Brian Cochrane with Albert Owl regional translators led the translation.

The project brought together a wide range of talent and multigenerational Anishinaabe speakers to bring this version to life. The dubbing was done over a 10-day period in early May in Winnipeg with the final mix completed at Skywalker Sound. The project is supported in part by the Government of Canada through the Indigenous Languages and Cultures Program from Canadian Heritage. Dougald Lamont helped launch this project in 2021 after proposing it to Pablo Hidalgo, a former Winnipegger and Lucasfilm executive as a language revitalization project in support of reconciliation.

The film will make its debut on Disney+ and APTN on a future date with more details to be shared soon.

”Gi-ga-miinigoowiz Mamaandaawiziwin” (“May the Force be with you”).

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Media Contact:
Sabrina Ortiz
sortiz@lucasfilm.com 

About Lucasfilm Ltd. 

Lucasfilm Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company, is a global leader in film, television and digital entertainment. In addition to its feature film and series production, the company’s offerings include cutting-edge visual effects and audio post-production, digital animation, immersive storytelling, and the management of the global merchandising activities for its entertainment properties including the legendary STAR WARS and INDIANA JONES franchises. Lucasfilm Ltd. is headquartered in northern California.

About DOTC 

Incorporated in 1974, the Dakota Ojibway Tribal Council (DOTC) is one of the oldest tribal councils in Canada. The DOTC currently represents 16,000 citizens, providing programs and services to six First Nations in southwestern Manitoba: Birdtail Sioux First Nation, Dakota Tipi First Nation, Long Plain First Nation, Roseau River Anishinabe First Nation, Sandy Bay Ojibway First Nation and Swan Lake First Nation. A fundamental part of the council’s vision and mandate is to promote, enhance quality of life for its members and attain the same opportunities and aspirations as those experienced by citizens elsewhere in Canada, and protect and promote the shared interests and aspirations of its member First Nations.

About the University of Manitoba 

The University of Manitoba is recognized as Western Canada’s first university, with more than 29,000 students, 5,000 academic staff, 3,900 support staff and more than 188,000 alumni. It is part of the U15, ranking among Canada’s top research-intensive universities and is Manitoba’s only medical-doctoral post-secondary institution. The University provides exceptional liberal arts, science and professional programs of study, inspiring undergraduate and post-graduate students to positively impact their communities as globally engaged citizens. UM campuses are located on original lands of Anishinaabeg, Ininiwak, Anisininewuk, Dakota Oyate and Dene, and on the National Homeland of the Red River Métis. We respect the Treaties that were made on these territories, we acknowledge the harms and mistakes of the past, and we dedicate ourselves to move forward in partnership with Indigenous communities in a spirit of Reconciliation and collaboration. For more information, please visit umanitoba.ca.

About APTN 

APTN launched in 1999 as the first national Indigenous broadcaster in the world. Since then, the network has become a global leader in programming that celebrates the rich diversity of Indigenous Peoples across Turtle Island and beyond. A respected charitable broadcaster, APTN shares authentic stories to Canadian households through basic channel packages via two distinct HD channels: APTN (English and French language programming) and APTN Languages (Indigenous language programming). APTN proudly features over 80% Canadian content and inspires audiences via multiple platforms, including its Indigenous-focused streaming service, APTN lumi.

STAR WARS (ANANGONG MIIGAADING), A NEW HOPE: MAAMAWIIKAMING WII-BIMAAJITOONG ANISHINAABEMOWIN WII-MAADAATESE ADITEMINIGIIZIS 8 inangizod, 2024 akiiwang

Anishinaabewakiing Nitam Agwi’idiwin – Wiisaakodewininiwag Wendakiiwaad – Gaa-okosing, Manidoobaa akiikaan., Ode’iminigiizis 26 e-inangizod, 2024 – Star Wars: A New Hope gaa-anishinaabemoomagak wii-oshki-maadaatese Aditeminigiizis 8 inangizod, 2024 Centennial Concert Hall wedi gichi-oodenaang Gaa-okosing, Manidoobaang.   Aditeminigiizis 10 inangizod, da-ani-mazinaatese imaa mazinaatesewigamigong Gaa-okosing gaa-ayaagin, miinawaa gaye bakaan ningoji. Walt Disney Studios Canada owiijichigemaawaa’ ini ge-aanike-mazinaatesidoonid imaa Gaa-okosing zhigo bakaan ningoji ezhi-anishinaabekaag bizaanigo ji-gaganawaabanjigeng.

Owe gaa-anishinaabemoomagak ge-mazinaateseg, Ellyn Stern Epcar ogii-niiganishkaan, Michael Kohn gaa-bimiwidood izhichigewin. Gaa-aawiwaad: Aandeg Jedi Muldrew (Luke Skywalker), Ajuawak Kapashesit (Han Solo), Theresa Eischen (Princess Leia), Dennis Daminos Chartrand (Darth Vader), Dustin Gerald Morrow Aagimewikamig (Obi-Wan Kenobi), Tomantha Sylvester Nimi Anungo Kwe (C-3PO), Jeff Monague Myiingan Minaakwhe (Grand Moff Tarkin), John-Paul Chalykoff (Uncle Owen), zhigo Wanda Barker Giwedinoonz (Aunt Beru).

Mii ogowe gaa-maamawiikamowaad: Dakota Ojibway Tribal Council (DOTC), the University of Manitoba (UM), Disney/Lucasfilm, zhigo APTN. Maeengan Linklater, Director of Operations (DOTC) zhigo Cary Miller, Assistant Professor, Department of Indigenous Studies (UM) gii-niigaaniiwag. Patricia Ningewance, Assistant Professor (UM)/gaa-niigaaniid aanikanootamaagewikwe, Dennis Daminos Chartrand, gaa-wiiji’iwed aanikanootamaagewinini, Brian Cochrane dago Albert Owl ogii-wiijitoonaawaa e-maamawi-aanikanotamowaad.

Gichi-anishinaabeg zhigo oshki-anishinaabeg gii-wiidanokiindiwag e-giizhitoowaad owe izhichigewin ezhi-wawiingeziwaad endaso-bebezhigowaad. Zaagibagaawigiizis e-maadaginzod, midaasogon gii-dazhiikewag wedi Gaa-okosing gii-anishinaabewisidoowaad e-biindweweshimindwaa. Gakina gii-ozhisijigaade wedi Skywalker Sound. Gichi-ogimaa gaye ogii-wiijitoon, Anishinaabemowinan zhigo Izhitwaawinan Izhichigewin ezhinikaadeg Canadian Heritage onji. Dougald Lamont gii-inendam ji-maajitood 2021 gii-akiiwang gii-ganoonaad ini Pablo Hidalgo-wan. Gaa-okosing gii-onjii awe inini, Lucasfilm dash endananokiid noongom, e-niigaanishkang anishinaabemowini-izhichigewinan zhigo maamiinochigewin.

Baamaa naagaj da-wiidamaagem aaniin apii ge-maadaateseg imaa Disney+ zhigo APTN.

”Gi-ga-miinigoowiz Mamaandaawiziwin” (“May the Force be with you”).

-30-

Iwe Lucasfilm Ltd

Lucasfilm Ltd onji-dibenjigaade imaa The Walt Disney Company eniigaaniiwaad e-ozhitoowaad gaa-mazinaateseg. Gaawiin eta gaa-mazinaateseg, gakina go gegoon gaa-izhichigeng ji-ozhichigaadegin ini daabishkoo gaa-izhinaagwak jiizhinaagwak, gaye gii-ishkwaa-mazinaatesijigeng, gaa-wawaakawiimagak, gaa-biindigeying mazinaatesijiganing, gaye e-adaawaagaadegin gakina mazinaatesijiganan gaa-dibenjigaadegin imaa daabishkoo STAR WARS gaye INDIANA JONES. Lucasfilm Ltd imaa giiwedinong California ayaamagan.

Iwe DOTC

1974 gii-izhiseg gii-maajichigaade iwe Dakota Ojibway Tribal Council (DOTC), maawach geteya’iiwan omaa Gaanada Akiing. Ngojigo 16,000 dashiwag gaa-dibendaagoziwaad imaa ngodwaachinoon ishkoniganan gaa-dibendaagokin imaa Birdtail Sioux First Nation, Dakota Tipi First Nation, Long Plain First Nation, Roseau First Nation, Sandy Bay Ojibwe First Nation, gaye dash Swan Lake First Nation. Amii ezhi-andawendamowaad ji-wiiji’indwaa gakina Anishinaabeg gaye Bwaanag gaa-izhi-dibendaagoziwaad imaa ji-debinamowaad mino-bimaadiziwin daabishkoo gaa-debinamowaad godak awiyak miziwe omaa akiing.

Iwe University of Manitoba

Iwe Gichi-gikendaasoowigamig Manitoba, maawach michaa omaa Manitoba, Wiinibiigong dash ayaamagan. U15 izhi-dibendaagwan maawach niibiwa gikendaasowin omaawajitoonaawaa, mashkiiwininiwag imaa onjiiwag gaye Phd gaa-debinamowaad. Niibiwa imaa gikino’amawaaganag izhaawag e-gikin’amawindwaa ji-debinamowaad anokiiwin giizhitoowaad gikino’amaagoowin. UM anishinaabe’ owiidanokiimaawaa’ ji-debinigaadeg iwe gwayakosijigewin gaye ji-ziidonindwaa Anishinaabe gikino’amawaaganag. Awashime 29,000 dashiwag gikino’amawaaganag, 5,000 gaa-gikin’amaagewaad, gaye 3,900 gaa-wiiji’iwewaad gaye awashime 188,00 odaanaang gaa-gii-gikino’amawindwaa imaa.

Iwe APTN

1999 gii-izhiseg gii-maajichigaade iwe APTN nitam iwe edinowang akiing. Noongom dash giiyaabi obimiwidoonaawaa gaa-mazinaateseg ji-wabandamowaad gakina awiyag Anishinaabeg gaa-mazinaateshimindwaa. Ngojigo gegaa 10 miniyan daawining izhi-ganawaabanjigaade omaa APTN gaa-onjiimagak mazinaatesijigewin, ezhaaganaashiimoomagak gaye ewemitigoozhiimagak gaye niibiwa daswewaan anishinaabemowinan. Awashime 80% Gaanada Akiing gaa-onjiimagak mazinaatesijigewin APTN waabanda’iwewag gaue owe gaa-gii-ozhichigaadeg JI-izhi-waabanjigaadeg mazinaatesijigewin APTN lumi.

Two photos of artwork on display as part of the Radical Stitch exhibit open now at the National Gallery of Canada. At left is Amazon Bag by Nico Williams, and at right is NDN Art by by Teri Greeves.

Windspeaker.com: The National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa opened its doors May 17 for the Radical Stitch exhibit. It features 101 beadworks by 44 First Nations, Inuit and Métis artists.

The exhibit, which runs until Sept. 30, focuses on beadwork that connects viewers with the past by showcasing artwork of the present, from wearable art to portraiture and more. It’s one of the largest shows of contemporary beadwork with artists from Canada and the United States.

Radical Stitch “includes some of the best of the best beadwork artists in Turtle Island,” said co-curator Michelle LaVallee, director of Indigenous Ways and Curatorial Initiatives at the National Gallery of Canada.

“It was really important for us to raise the profile of beadwork to show it as contemporary, as part of this age,” LaVallee said. It’s the continuance of something that’s part of Indigenous history.

“You know, art making is part of what our communities have been doing since (the beginning of) time but (we’re) really wanting people to see the skill and labour that goes into making these works, in addition to the aesthetic beauty of beadwork, and hopefully do our part to elicit some awe and respect for the practice.”

The concept of the exhibit became reality five years ago at the Mackenzie Art Gallery in Saskatchewan. The National Gallery of Canada is the exhibit’s fourth stop.

“It really stems from a spark of inspiration I had to, and desire to, uplift beading practices over a couple decades ago when I first started my position at the Mackenzie Art Gallery,” said LaVallee. “But it was really conceptualized… around 2016.”

LaVallee co-curated Radical Stitch with Sherry Farrell Racette, a professor in the department of visual arts at the University of Regina, and Cathy Mattes, associate professor in history of art at the University of Winnipeg.

The exhibit travelled to the Art Gallery of Hamilton and the Thunder Bay Art Gallery prior to the National Gallery.

Originally the number of exhibitors was quite extensive, explained LaVallee, but the list was reduced for touring purposes for the previous two showings. Due to the venue size at the National Gallery of Canada, the curators were able to bring back a number of artists for the current exhibit.

“We are really excited about the attention that the show has been bringing to artists and helping to celebrate their work and to celebrate their efforts,” LaVallee said. “And to bring beadwork into the contemporary sphere in a way that it’s never been exhibited before.”

A key element of the exhibit was to bring the art of beadwork from the stereotype of being a craft into a contemporary space.

“You have next generations of artists, like Nico Williams, who’ve really been creating new meaning and redefining representation and cultural determinism and experimenting with media, whether it be to play with pop culture or imagine new worlds to look at our complex identities,” said LaVallee.

Williams, a Montreal-based artist from the Aamjiwnaang First Nation, creates geometrical and sculptural creations of everyday objects that link to his own history and personal stories. One of the items in the show by Williams is titled Amazon Bag.

“My art is looking at different ways to approach these, trying to replicate sound objects and also responding to works created by our ancestors and bridging the two,” said Williams.

“For instance, the Amazon Bag in the Radical Stitch show, it was looking at bandolier bags.”

Historically, bandolier bags were modelled after European military ammunition bags. They were made using trade cloth, and hundreds of small glass trade beads would be sewn to the exterior of the bag. The bags were then worn as part of men’s ceremonial clothing.

“But we’d also use them as commerce, and we would sell it for, like, we traded it actually for ponies,” Williams said. When he started the Amazon Bag project he read many stories about the historical beaded bags, including one from the depression era when someone had to sell their beaded bag for $5.

“So then, you really think about what value is and… what it represents,” Williams said.

He incorporated an Ojibway pattern monochromatically on the back of his Amazon Bag art piece to address the history of trade.

“I’m looking at Ojibway patterns and I’m always trying to figure out ways to highlight them and to put them into people’s faces, because for so long it hasn’t. It’s been tucked away in drawers,” he said.

“I was responding to works that are in drawers and they’re still in those drawers, because up until the ‘50s it was illegal to practice who we are.”

Another element of the Amazon Bag by Williams is replicated bubble wrap, typically found on the inside of a shipping package.

“I’m always trying to replicate these colonial objects that sort of shower around our territories,” Williams said, adding he really wanted to draw viewers to how historically bags were adorned with flowers or other items that represented who Indigenous people were, but now bubble wrap and other substances are entering the communities from outside sources.

Being part of the exhibit is an honour for Williams, he said, because it’s important for Indigenous creators to bring beadwork back to the communities.

“It is an honour, because there has been so much work that has gone into getting beadwork where it is being appreciated today, and the show is really highlighting so many amazing artists from different communities all across Turtle Island,” he said.

“I love all the curators. They have done such incredible work for so many people and the beadwork exhibition is going to make an impression in people’s minds and it’s going to change things.”

For more information on the show or to purchase tickets visit the National Gallery of Canada website Radical Stitch | National Gallery of Canada

By Crystal St.Pierre
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Windspeaker.com

Local Journalism Initiative Reporters are supported by a financial contribution made by the Government of Canada.

APTN News: The Dalhousie Art Gallery is featuring the work of Mi’kmaw artist Alan Syliboy.

The retrospective called Alan Syliboy: The Journey So Far, looks back at Syliboy’s 50 year career as an artist starting in the 1970s.

“This is amazing to be here,” Syliboy said. “It’s like if someone wrote a book but this is visual, this is a visual book or a record of what I was at a particular time they are all snap shots of different periods of my life different ages and where I was.”

Syliboy said his work is inspired by Mi’kmaw petroglyphs, quillwork and oral traditions.

He’s a leader in contemporary art representing Mi’kmaw culture.

“We’ve had over well over a hundred people in a few days,” said curator Pamela Edmunds. “Many people coming in telling us about ‘I have a drum’ or ‘I have a work of Alan’s’ or ‘I used to buy his T-shirts’ you know. So there’s so many people’s lives that he’s touched with his work.”

Syliboy said his grandparents encouraged him to become an artist.

“My whole life they inspired me,” he said. “I think to become an artist, she would be very happy about the way my life and career has turned out.”

The exhibit is open to the public until Aug. 11.

Continue Reading

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B.C. serial killer Robert Pickton in critical condition after ‘major assault�…

Author(s) 

Angel Moore, amoore@aptn.ca

Manitwabi is an academic, actor and elder from Wiikwemkoong 

CBC Indigenous: When Edna Manitowabi received the Indspire Award for her contributions to culture, heritage and spirituality, she says she was thinking of the elders who helped her along the way.

“It was the elders, the knowledge keepers, who encouraged me and affirmed me and told me to keep on going,” she said. 

For 30 years, the Indspire Awards have honoured more than 400 First Nations, Inuit, and Métis individuals who demonstrate outstanding achievements in their respective fields.

Manitowabi is a Wiikwemkoong elder, actor and academic who has dedicated her life to the revitalization of Indigenous culture.

“As a strong advocate for Indigenous peoples, a teacher of Anishinaabemowin and Anishinaabeg traditions, and an unfailing champion of Indigenous ways of knowing, Edna has dedicated her life to ensuring cultural well-being and strength for future generations,” read a press release from the Indspire Awards.

• New generation of Indigenous elders coming out of previous colonial mentality
• ‘It is our truth’: Indian Horse actor, residential school survivor says the film is no fiction

Manitowabi says that when she was young her culture’s stories, songs and ceremonies were seen as taboo.

Although there’s been a lot of work to reclaim that culture, she says it hasn’t been fast enough.

“It has to do with changing our way of thinking and changing our behaviour, our attitudes and using the values, whether it’s kindness and having compassion,” she said.

When she first heard traditional drummers in the 1960s, Manitowbi says it changed her life.

“I was just young back then, but it was the sound of the drum that struck something within me,” she said.

“Very, very powerful. Very strong.”

Manitowabi taught at Trent University for years and is now a professor emirata. She also served as the traditional cultural director for The Native Theatre School, The Centre for Indigenous Theatre, and the Banff Aboriginal Dance Program.

In her retirement she’s returned to Wiikwemkoong to be closer to her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

But she’s continuing to learn, gathering medicines from the land and learning more of the Anishinaabemowin language.

Supreme Court justice Michelle O’Bonsawin, who was born in Sudbury, received the Indspire Award in the law and justice category, and Jocelyn Formsma, the executive director of the National Association of Friendship Centres, was honoured for her public service.

Up North – 10:13

Edna Manitowabi earns Indspire awardThe Indspire awards were handed out the other day – and Northern Ontario was well represented. We’ll meet one of the people honoured, Wiikwemkoong elder Edna Manitowabi.

Click on the following link to listen to “Up North”

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sudbury/edna-manitowabi-indspire-award-1.7186468

With files from Jonathan Pinto

The AGH’s largest-ever solo exhibit is a sprawling retrospective of Mohawk artist Shelley Niro’s incredible 40-year career.

Shelley Niro Collection

“The Rebel,” 1987, by Shelley Niro. Hand-tinted gelatin silver print. 

Bert McNair photo “Resting with Warriors,” 2001, by Shelley Niro. Woodcut on wove paper.

Shelley Niro Collection: Chiquita,” 2001, by Shelley Niro. Digital photograph.

NationTalk: Hamilton Spectator – We’ve all heard art is subjective. It’s also in the eye of the beholder. Multi-talented Mohawk artist Shelley Niro knows this. She doesn’t have a favourite piece of her own work, but she understands that others might.

“Every time I finish a work and send it out the door, it has its own life,” Brantford-based Niro said, in an email interview with The Spectator.

“I then begin on the next piece. I get attached to everything and have a bit of withdrawal when that work does leave. So, no, I don’t have a favourite. People are drawn to different pieces and they have their own reasons why. I don’t like to upset the chemistry that surrounds that.”

The first major retrospective exhibition of Niro’s work, spanning four decades and entitled “Shelley Niro: 500 Year Itch,” is on display at the Art Gallery of Hamilton until May 26.

It’s the second stop on a five-gallery, multi-year North American tour. The first was at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian in New York City in 2023. The AGH version is not only the first Canadian show, but it will also feature new pieces.

“Some of it I haven’t seen in years. It feels like a discovery. The work itself looks fresh, and not so tired. I was a little afraid to look at it in case things were falling apart and the impact time would have had on the work,” she said.

“Each location will be different for sure. The architecture will give the work different energies and I will see it in a new light. The Hamilton location will mean a lot to me as this is so close to home.”

On Saturday, Niro will join the exhibit’s three curators — Melissa Bennett, AGH senior curator of contemporary art, Greg Hill, independent curator formerly Audain senior curator, Indigenous art at the National Gallery of Canada, and David Penney, associate director of museum scholarship at the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian — in a conversation at the AGH.

The discussion runs from 2 to 3 p.m. and an opening celebration will follow, which will also feature the exhibit “Alex Jacobs-Blum: Living and Lost Connections.”

Bennett said the AGH came up with the idea to showcase 40 years of Niro’s work. With more than 500 pieces in Niro’s Brantford studio alone, the show took the trio seven years to curate. They created a long list and then narrowed that down to about 70 works (some in series, equating to 136 pieces) in total. Installation took three weeks.

“This is the biggest show the AGH has ever done of a solo artist representation. It’s important to provide this kind of space for local artists. We want Hamilton to be proud,” Bennett said.

“Through our youth outreach, we have school groups coming here to see an Indigenous artist from their region. This show can empower and encourage them to fight for what they want to do in terms of equal rights and fighting against Indigenous stereotypes.”

“Shelley Niro: 500 Year Itch” includes the artist’s photography, film, painting, installation, beadwork, sculpture and mixed media practice. Thematically, the exhibit is divided into four sections: matriarchy, memory, actors and relations.

According to the AGH, her “persistent vision is to represent Indigenous women and girls, advocating for self-representation and sovereignty.” The exhibit’s title is derived from “The 500 Year Itch,” one of Niro’s most well-known photographs, in which she subverts the famous Marilyn Monroe scene in the film “The Seven Year Itch.”

It was taken in 1992, also the quincentenary of Christopher Columbus’ “discovery” of America, at a time when work by Indigenous artists was being both highlighted and demanded.

Bennett said she, and her co-curators, are extremely proud of the exhibit because it shows such meaningful work of a celebrated and talented artist.

Niro is the recipient of a Governor General Award and Scotiabank Photography Award, as well as numerous film awards and lifetime achievement honours.

“It’s rewarding to see people come and benefit educationally from learning about colonialism and its impacts on people,” she said. “Instead of hitting people over the head, it becomes, like Shelley says, sugar coating on a bitter pill. It’s not glossing over it, but she’s taking the time to talk to people.”

Niro said she believes art is both stimulating and, hopefully, inspiring. She wants those who come to the AGH to walk away with those feelings. “When I see an exhibit that makes me happy to have seen it, I feel totally invigorated to try and attempt to make art myself,” she said. “Not copying it, but trying to recreate that feeling that makes life fun and pushing for bigger and better layers of expression.”

Shelley Niro: 500 Year Itch

Where Art Gallery of Hamilton, 123 King St. W.

When Until May 26, Thursday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., Friday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Admission $15 adults, $12 seniors, no charge for students and children, artgalleryofhamilton.com

LL

Lori Littleton

 is a freelance writer who enjoys reviewing theatre. She can be reached at