An installation at the Big on Bloor Festival, 2015 and 2016.
For generations Indigenous worldview and practises have been impacted by religious impositions and outright genocide on our people across Turtle Island (North America). There was a time when our ceremonies were banned, including dancing, singing, and gathering, as it posed a threat to the Colonial. Events such as the “Big on Bloor Festival” would not have been allowed to take place in our communities and drove many traditions underground.
When invited by Carla Garnett to participate in the festival, we started with the question of how to indigenize the space and share aspects of our culture and worldview. The tipi, an iconic structure and image for our communities, is the perfect structure to erect on these grounds – it demonstrates we are still here, alive and well.
The tipi as a symbol that represents our bodies, our home, our family, our world, our minds. In our teachings we learn that the answers to life comes from within, guided by our traditional teachings, ceremonies and values.
So here we are in this time, place, and space, faced with our past, present, and future. What comes next? We have many issues that we need to find ways to address and heal, but it can only be done by first looking at ourselves and how we are implicated in what is happening in our communities and globally. Peer into your heart and mind… you are the one you’ve been waiting for.