RECONCILIATION THROUGH ART
Event Details
Overview
Reconciliation Through Art is a fundraising event for Kooshkopayiw (Awakening) Métis Artist Collective and initiative to promote and support other Indigenous artists and artisans. The event features an Indigenous Art Exhibition, Storytelling and Performances.
Date
September 30th, 2024
Location
Mississippi Valley Textile Museum, Almonte, Ontario
Throughout the day, storytellers and performers will share teachings, workshops and informative presentations about Indigenous art and history.
Mitch Case
Mitch Case is a proud Métis citizen from the Historic Sault Ste. Marie Métis Community. He is a community based historian, focusing on the history of Ontario Métis communities, especially those around the Great Lakes.
Mitch is a passionate defender of the Métis right to self-determination, jurisdiction over lands and resources and the cause of Métis Nationalism. Mitch volunteers in schools, colleges and universities across Ontario where he is invited to speak about Métis culture, history, traditions, rights and contemporary issues.
Mitch will present the Métis perspective of the Métis involvement in the War of 1812, the Mica Bay Incident and the Robinson Huron Treaty of 1850.
David Charette
David White Deer Charette’s home community is Wikwemikong, ON. He is an Ojibway Two-Spirit artist who started beading when he was 12. His sister taught him how to bead and his aunt taught him how to sew. His inspiration comes from growing up on the powwow trail.
David has been singing traditional and contemporary Indigenous music with the hand drum since he was 12 years old. His diverse songs can wow the crowd. He says, “I am Loon Clan and these sort of people can get the audience’s attention with the power in their voice by singing loud and soft when needed.”
Alyssa Delbaere-Sawchuk
Alyssa Delbaere-Sawchuk has completed a doctorate in classical and fiddle music traditions on the viola at the Université de Montréal. An award winning composer and performer, Alyssa strives to spread awareness of Métis culture within her communities.
Alyssa conducts workshops in schools on Métis fiddle music, oral learning tradition, improvisation, and cultural history. Over the course of her workshops, students learn about slides, drones, clogging, spoons, and grooves, and increase their cultural literacy of Indigenous music. At the event, she will conduct workshops in addition to performing with her good friend, Amanda Rheaume.
Nish Nabe
Nish is a self-taught wood and bone antler carver. His home community is Kebaowek First Nation at Kipewa, Quebec.
His work naturally gravitated to eagles, bears, wolves and beaver – animals he had seen as a young boy living an Indigenous life with his grandparents in Northern Quebec.
Nish is carving a Thunderbird specifically for Reconciliation Through Art and will complete his carving during the event. He will tell the story of Nanibush and how the Thunderbird came to be.
David Finkle
David Finkle has been called a 'Renaissance man'. Hailing from Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory, he is an award-winning, multi-instrumental recording artist versed in many musical genres. He is a traditional knowledge keeper, storyteller, drum maker, performer, producer, and sound engineer, and has completed scores for many various theatrical productions, documentaries and full-length features for 30 years.
David's music ranges from traditional melodies to live improvisation, being instinctual as well as involving a deep understanding of music theory without allowing it to stifle his heartfelt compositions. Exhibiting a strong focus on drums, melody duties often go to Native American Flute, an instrument unlike any other in the world. David has performed in North/Central America, the high Arctic, and Africa.
Aurora Jade
Since the age of nine, Aurora Finkle has had an impressive musical career. Having won the grand prize at the 2008's National Aboriginal Day 'We Got Talent' competition in Ottawa, Aurora has gone on to perform the Senate at Parliament Hill, Grand Hall at the Museum of Civilization, pow-wows, numerous music festivals, galas and conferences, as well as having appeared on numerous T.V. and radio shows. Aurora is also a classical pianist and has won many nation-wide competitions for composition.
Now 25, Aurora performs with various musical acts, as well as gives solo performances of her repertoire of original material. She is currently working on her second album, residing in Ottawa, playing various venues, and teaching Indigenous arts in the schools.
Dan Kohoko
Dan Kohoko is a former councillor of Pikwakanagan First Nation. He will speak to a display of the history and culture of his community and will be available for a Question and Answer session.
Doris Lanigan
Doris is a Senator and Elder of the Métis Nation of Ontario. She will provide an opening prayer at the event. She will talk about the experience and the impact of the Sixties Scoop on her family who originate from Big River, Saskatchewan.
Doris will also model fashion designs by her son, Jason Baerg. Her photo was included in Vogue’s August 16, 2023 feature article: “21 Artists to Know at This Year’s Santa Fe Indian Market”
Isaac Murdoch
Bomgiizhik (Isaac Murdoch) is an Ojibwe Fish Clan artist from Serpent River First Nation, who is best known for his art “doodles”. He is a well-respected storyteller and traditional knowledge-keeper who has committed his life to the preservation of Anishinaabe cultural practices.
Isaac is a direct descendant of Shingwauk, an Anishinaabe Chief who was a signatory to Robinson Huron Treaty of 1850. Isaac will present his perspective on the history of the Métis and First Nations communities of the north shore of Lake Huron and Métis involvement in the Robinson Huron Treaty.
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Zac Thiffault
Zac Thiffault is Métis from the Georgian Bay Métis Community. He received his JD and his B.Soc.Sc (hons) from the University of Ottawa and is called to the Bar of Ontario.
Zac is Legal Counsel and Director of Métis Rights, Claims, and Litigation for the Métis Nation of Ontario, advising on a wide range of topics including, self-government, Métis rights, and internal governance.
Zac will present on the history, political advocacy, and interconnections of Métis families and communities from the Upper Great Lakes-westward.
Prairie Fire
Prairie Fire is a fun, family dance group that shares stories and culture through Métis cultural dance and storytelling.
Formally known as Jamie and the Jiglets, the group now comes together to share their Métis cultural experiences with all audiences.
Amanda Rheaume
A Citizen of the Métis Nation, and an active and proud member of the 2SLGBTQ+ community, Rheaume's music is indeed from the heart, and the land.
From the International Indigenous Music Summit, to the newly-founded Ishkode Records, and the National Indigenous Music Office, the goal of raising Indigenous sovereignty in the music industry drives all of Rheaume's work.
First a songwriter, Rheaume comes from a long line of tireless, transformational organizers and activists, and carries this lineage forward in her ever-growing role as a crucial builder of Indigenous music infrastructure and community.
Kevin Schofield
Kevin Schofield, a.k.a. The Tennessee Cree, is an Indigenous singer-songwriter who blends powerful songwriting with traditional chants. His unique, evocative style is captured on his two-part solo album: Meeting Myself on Raven Street.
Kevin sings old school pow wow songs with classical violin and some Tennessee Cree twang. He will share Moose Cree songs of his youth. No one has ever sung a Cree hymn in Cree language in a rock concert setting... Kevin has!
Kristy Cameron, a teacher and visual artist, was born and raised in Atikokan, Ontario, the Canoe Capital of Canada. As a Métis artist and descendant of numerous fur trade employees, she often incorporates Indigenous and historical content into her art. With this history and culture, we often see spiritual weavings throughout her pieces which evoke sensations such as mystery, energy, contentment, and joyfulness. Kristy's art can be found in private and public collections, such as the Archives of Ontario, the Kenora Justice Centre, the Canadian Museum of History, and various school boards and social agencies. She has collaborated with various authors to illustrate books and stories such as The Seven Sacred Teachings and Meet Your Family; these books have been highly used by educators nationwide.
Kristy Cameron
STORYTELLERS & PERFORMERS
ALL STORYTELLERS & PERFORMERS
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WaaPaKe ("Tomorrow")
WaaPaKe ("Tomorrow") is a Canadian documentary film, directed by Jules Arita Koostachin and released in 2023. The film explores the intergenerational impacts that the Canadian Indian residential school system has continued to have on generations of Indigenous people who were not themselves students in the system, but have still been deeply scarred by it because of its effects on their parents and grandparents.
The film is based in part on Koostachin's own family story, featuring testimony by Koostachin herself, her mother Rita and her son Asivak, about the lingering effects of the residential school system on their family life, and is dedicated to the memory of her brother Steven; however, it also includes interviews with other people who have been impacted by the legacy of residential schools, including other children of survivors and social workers who work with them to confront and heal trauma
This special screening will be held on Sunday, September 29th (the day prior to Reconciliation Through Art), 2:00 pm, at the Almonte United Church Sanctuary, 106 Elgin Street, Almonte. Admission is free ($10 donation suggested).
PROJECT PRESENTATION
Ginawaydaganuc Village
Ginawaydaganuc Village (GV) (est. 2022) is an Indigenous-led non-profit organization based in Mississippi Mills, Ontario. Our mission is to construct an eco-sensitive, education and gathering place rooted in our cultural heritage, based on our medicine wheel teachings, and guided by principles of community empowerment, sustainability, healing and working in harmony with our environment and each other. GV is committed to helping repair and prepare the way for seven generations to come.
When complete, GV will consist of five main buildings, with an Elder’s Lodge in the centre. GV will contain a welcome centre, an academy, accommodations, a restaurant, and retail space to carry course materials, construction equipment and supplies, ceremonial supplies, and gifts.
Ginawaydaganuc is an Algonquin word, the essence of which means ‘we/all things are connected’. The name was chosen to honour the late Algonquin Elder William Commanda.