Sundance at Red Pheasant Reserve – 24” H x 36” W /61cm H x 92cm W – 1970, Acrylic on Canvas – Allen Sapp – The Allen Sapp Gallery – The Gonor Collection.
The distinct cultures and customs of Indigenous Peoples of the Americas will be celebrated on June 21 by OCAD University with a free online event, which will include the launch of a North American lndigenous art initiative.
Greetings from the Four Directions: National Indigenous Peoples Day Celebration will bring together the OCAD U community to mark the Northern Hemisphere summer solstice with a series of live and pre-recorded greetings, songs and knowledge exchanges.
This year’s event comes on the heels of the recent grim and painful discovery of a mass grave containing the remains of 215 children found at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School of Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc. This latest tragic reminder of Canada’s colonial history has shocked the nation’s conscience and renewed calls for genuine reconciliation with this land’s First Peoples.
Co-host, artist and Tier 1 Canada Research Chair of Indigenous Visual Culture and Curatorial Practice at OCAD U, Dr. Gerald McMaster, who is nêhiyaw (Plains Cree) and a citizen of the Siksika First Nation, says these developments provide an opportunity for deep reflection on repairing Canada’s relationship with First Nations, Métis and Inuit in Canada.
“Each day, we continue to learn more about our histories. The National Indigenous Peoples Day is not only a time for celebration but also a time to pause, to realize that there are still many ‘truths’ to uncover before full reconciliation is a possibility,” says Dr. McMaster who is director of the University’s Wapatah Centre for Indigenous Visual Knowledge, a hub for artists and scholars to document, communicate and interpret Indigenous ways of seeing.
“The event is an opportunity to tell everyone that Indigenous traditions continue in the present day, and they indicate the multicultural nature of Indigenous peoples across the Americas and globally,” he says.
Taking place from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. (EDT), the celebration will be livestreamed on the YouTube channels of OCAD U, the Wapatah Centre for Indigenous Visual Knowledge and event partner Onsite Gallery. The other two OCAD U partners are the Indigenous Visual Culture Program, a degree honouring the creative traditions of Indigenous art and design practices and the Office of the President and Vice-Chancellor.
“At a time when we are reckoning with some of the darkest chapters of Indigenous history in Canada, this celebration offers a way to stand in solidarity with Indigenous peoples and join in discovering the rich cultural traditions of this community,” says Ana Serrano, OCAD U’s President and Vice-Chancellor.
Dr. McMaster will be joined by co-host Susan Blight, an Anishinaabe and Couchiching First Nation interdisciplinary artist and the Delaney Chair in Indigenous Visual Culture at OCAD U. Elder Whabagoon, Lac Seul First Nation artist, Keeper of the Sacred Pipes, artist, land defender and water protector, will deliver the Elder Acknowledgement.
Performers will include:
- Bill Crouse, Faith Keeper, artist and leader of the Seneca dance group Allegany River Dancers
- Mathew Nuqingaq, Inuit artist, sculptor and performer
- Olinda Silvano, Shipibo-konibo artist and author from Peru
- Eric Tootoosis, Poundmaker Cree Nation Knowledge-Keeper
Among the event organizers is Brittany Pitseolak Bergin, a researcher with the Wapatah Centre whose mother’s family is Inuit and from Nunavut.
Bergin explains she was largely disconnected from her Indigenous culture until joining the Wapatah Centre, which awakened an interest in reconnecting with her maternal heritage.
With public outrage over the residential school finding still fresh, Bergin hopes the event reminds all Canadians that unity is more important than ever.
“It’s been a tough time for everyone in the Indigenous community, but it’s powerful when folks come together,” she says.
INDIGENIZING THE (ART) MUSEUM
During the event, the Wapatah Centre will announce the public release of theIndigenizing the (Art) Museum, a series of virtual in-conversation events between Dr. McMaster and different art curators from museums across Canada and the U.S.
Launched on April 1, 2021, in collaboration with the Onsite Gallery, the initiative aims to illuminate the shifting dialogue around Indigenous art curation, ceremony and research in digital spaces.
“There are lots of portrayals of Indigenous folks, but the attention often goes towards those created through a colonial lens,” says Natalja Chestopalova, OCAD U researcher and project manager with the Wapatah Centre. “This series brings together global curators to demonstrate the rich diversity of Indigenous voices and ways of seeing that are out there globally.”