CONTENTS
Director’s Welcome Outside of the Box
Welcome to the fourth edition of FNH Magazine in which we explore creativity; an exciting theme since what goes hand in hand with this concept is originality, inspiration and imagination. Why creativity? Personally, I think that creativity is core to our lives. Every day we are faced with situations, or challenges, that need a resolution. Sometimes the “tried and true” ways don’t work and a different approach to the question is needed. Without creativity or inspiration, we limit ourselves in how we live, grow and learn. This is when our imagination forces us to take in a view: one that likely takes us out of our comfort zone. This way of thinking allows us to try out new ideas, allowing us to approach life and meet the challenges that are thrown our way. George Bernard Shaw wrote, “You see things; and you say, “Why?” But I dream things that never were; and I say, “Why not?” Inside this issue you will meet people who approach life in this manner and ask themselves, “Why not?” instead of “Why?” In their writing, singing or acting, they are digging deep within themselves to answer this question through their chosen forms of expression. Each person thinks outside the box, thereby gaining the freedom to explore, experiment, and develop. Without creativity, we are hard pressed for new ideas. Learning can be creative; however it also needs to provide further inspiration and encouragement. If education doesn’t do this, then our learning becomes memory work and is no longer motivating. Without creativity involved in this process, we lose the opportunity to ask ourselves, “Why not?” Jonathan Hamilton-Diabo Director, First Nations House
www.
fnhmagazine .com VISIT US ON-LINE 6 A BRIGHT STAR:
Tamara Podemski is many things professionally: role model, actor, singer, songwriter… First Nations House impacted her as an Ojibway woman, a student and a future artist.
Printed on recycled paper FNH MAGAZINE
Alumni Maria Hupfield takes the art world along for the journey.
Celebrating Indigenous Knowledge in the World Today unites community, the academy and distinguished guests for another stellar gathering.
ON THE COVER
FNH WRITER-IN-RESIDENCE PROGRAM 8 FINDING A WAY HOME:
In the middle of a well-established career, Mimi Gellman came to U of T. More than artistic instruction, Mimi found a community- her community.
13 WRITE ON!
Canada’s Indigenous literati descend on the University for what has quickly become one of the most highly anticipated literature festivals of the season. Lee Maracle, Kinnie Starr, Gregory Scofield, Kateri Akiwenzie-Damm, Neal McLeod, Joanne Arnott and Shane Belcourt take the stage.
Writing legend Lee Maracle Poet and educator Neal McLeod Renowned British Columbia based poets Gregory Scofield and Joanne Arnott
Space is limited, seating on a first-come basis
DIRECTOR: Jonathan Hamilton-Diabo
Metis visual artist Tannis Nielsen brings the decolonization studies and guidance techniques she experienced at U of T in her role as youth coordinator and instructor for the Ontario College of Art and Design.
FULL DAY OF WORKSHOPS:
ADVISORY COUNCIL: Lee Maracle Daniel Heath Justice
10 AWARENESS WEEK:
Choosing just one cover image to represent the myriad of talent bursting out of First Nations House, the University of Toronto and the country as a whole proved a difficult task. Even focusing in on the Aboriginal literary world still meant we had to incorporate years of struggle, achievement and boundarybreaking. We settled on the image of an Indigenous woman surrounded by a matrix of writers and thinkers- a virtual continuum of Aboriginal excellence. Considering this is not an exhaustive list of our literary stars, it’s pretty impressive! Photo by: Robin Sutherland
Volume 1, Issue 4
EDITOR: Cherie Dimaline 2
7 REPRESENTING:
FNH MAGAZINE Published by First Nations House, University of Toronto, 563 Spadina Avenue, Toronto ON, M5S J7Z
9 CRAFTING EXCELLENCE:
Need the whole story? Want to meet the writers and contributors? Interested in learning more about FNH and the community? Visit us online at www.fnhmagazine.com
DESIGN & ART DIRECTION: David Shilling MAAIINGAN Productions www.maaiingan.com
Tyler Pennock Paulina Vivanico Lee Maracle Nicole Tanguay
CONTRIBUTORS: Christine McFarlane Rebeka Tabobondung Jorge Antonio Vallejos Jessica Keeshig-Martin
PHOTOGRAPHY: Robin Sutherland Aaron Mason
First Nations House is pleased to host a Writer-in-Residence Program. Need help with your creative writing projects? Want to know where to send manuscripts? Need info on the literary world? Check out upcoming workshops, events and literary information on our blog at: www.fnh-writer-in-rez.blogspot.com
through poetry with some of the very best? Lee Maracle, Gregory Scofield and Neal McLeod will take part in this panel discussion. Moderated by poet Joanne Arnott. PLUS Stop by for breakfast with the writers in the Aboriginal Studies Lounge on Tuesday, March 30 at 9:00AM - 10:00AM Stay with us for sandwiches and talk in the Aboriginal Studies
Tuesday, March 30th EDITORIAL: PRINTER: Lounge (2rd floor) after the workshops VOLUME 1, Issue 4 on • First Nations House (Borden Building North) Tuesday, March 30 at 4:30PM Spadina Avenue Jessicka563Loduca LM Print Solutions, for more information: www.fnh-writer-in-rez.blogspot.com 10:00AM - 11:30PM Brendan Martyn lmprintsolutions@rogers.com FNH accepts no responsibility or contact: FNH at 416-978-8227 Writing for Film: FNH Lounge (3rd floor) First Nations House (FNH) for unsolicited materials. FNH Interested in writing for screen? Sit with award winning Borden Building North director Shane Belcourt to learn about the methods, 563 Spadina Avenue WEBMASTER: Special thanks to MTCU for assumes no responsibility for the path and the industry. Multifaith Centre MAAIINGAN Productions supporting FNH Magazine content or advertisements. (beside FNH) 10:00AM - 11:30PM 569 Spadina Avenue www.maaiingan.com Tabobondung for Submissions: unsolicited Songwriting and the Business of Music: FNH and loft (4thRebeka floor) Does the world of music and songwriting call you? Join cover assistance manuscripts N will not be rerecording artist and published author Kinnie Starr to learn the ins-and-outs of the industry and the creative process. turned unless accompanied by a stamped return envelope.
To request your copy of FNH Magazine, contact us at: www.fnhmagazine.com. SUBMISSIONS: If you are interested in writing for FNH magazine, please contact us at: editor@fnhmagazine.com MAGAZINE FNH
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What is Creativity and why is it so important for Native communities?
ent languages, covering diverse issues and stories to reflect the people they represent and their audience accurately. However, with the introduction of AVR in 2000, the Aboriginal radio show at CIUT, urbanative, was assumed unable to compete and was cancelled a few years later. Since then, the hosts of that program, Chris Spence and Andre Morrisseau, have moved on, contributing regularly to the ongoing success of AVR.
Artists can tell you, one of the most inspiring motivators towards positive creation is denial, oppression or hardship. There is something about a ‘NO’ that makes one want to write ‘YES!’ There is something about ugliness or pain that makes one’s hands want to shape the form of beauty. Maybe this is why grey walls are so appealing to muralists. Perhaps this is why the blank page is like a beautifully iced cake to the mischievous writer- they just can’t resist running a finger across it, to leave a mark of their own. But it isn’t just a rather impressive record of survival in a community where post-colonial oppression still stings that makes Aboriginal Canada unique in its creative talents. It’s much more than just a reaction to an outside stimulus that brings the art. It’s the ability of a passionate people to, as early French diarist Anais Nin put it, “Live in every cell.” Writer William Saroyan advises emerging writers to do just this. “The most solid advice for a writer is this, I think. Try to learn to breathe deeply, really to taste food when you eat, and when you sleep, really sleep. Try as much as possible to be wholly alive, with all your might, and when you laugh, laugh like hell, and when you get angry, get good and angry. Try to be alive. You will be dead soon enough.” This is just the kind of attitude Aboriginal Canadians live by, at least amongst my circle of family and friends; you would be hard pressed to find a bored or boring individual amongst them. Pulling tradition into modern living seems to make for a colourful quilt, one that we can wrap our babies in, one that we can pass down through the next seven generations. Former University of Toronto Aboriginal Studies music and art instructor Debby Danard finds creative choices are daily, and are not just limited to the artists among us. “I do think creativity is in everything we do though...how we interpret the world even in how we dress in the morning...we are all connected to the creative collective of the universe and how we interpret that is very personal, sometimes private, sometimes public...” If you look up the word create in the thesaurus, you come across the synonym, construct. Through our creative choices we are constructing our reality. And maybe that’s why we are such creative people -- because we give it its due respect, we invest the time and energy into creativity, we value it. Because we understand that speaking up and out for ourselves is important work, that it is necessary work. And no matter how much we evolve and change as communities, our core values and true histories are kept safe in our stories, our paintings, our stitches, and our songs. Early French diarist Anais Nin coined a phrase that I think exemplifies the kind of art that we as a community produce. Speaking about her experiences and the logging of them she wrote that the best way to live, the truest way, was ‘in every cell’. I like that, I use it a lot in fact. Living in Every Cell; living to your full potential and with passion and imagination, never wasting a moment or an opportunity. Its how artists live, seeing every minute as an open door, and then walking through it. And aren’t we all artists deep down? Art is truth and we are speaking it. Art is hope and we are excited for our future. Art is survival and we are here to stay. Cherie Dimaline, Editor
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Eyes Wide Open I want to walk around the world with my eyes wide open fearless in the looking At its cold hard steel wired beauty, its soft underbelly of ugliness Its smooth wrinkles It austere ostentation Its innocent criminality Its guilt-wracked wonderment Its insane reasonability Its odd repetition Its strange familiarity Its dead life. I want to couple huckleberry blossoms with old worn out shoes In some magical way that teaches the world the distance between Navvy jack’s smooth round stones and white eagles landing on the moon I want to marry the smooth skin of square shouldered men with the inelegance of a Swede saw slicing cedar at the roots. in a way that promotes the dreaming pair of cultural promise I want to see the world as crystal clean as swamp born mosquitoes feeding frog, feeding swamp, feeding cattails and wild garlic and finally watch those swamp drops move on up to sky to pour down as the sweetest rain I want to see as clearly as Toni. For Toni Morrison Lee Maracle
Aaron Mason
O
ur communities are overflowing with it and our culture is safely preserved within its confines. We live it every day and are only surprised when there is a lack of it. It’s creativity, and it shines like cut glass beads amongst our days. But why is this so? Why are we so blessed when it comes to our painters, actors, sculptors, craftspeople, poets, writers and innovators? Why do Aboriginal people seem to hold creativity with such an enviable grip?
LAUNCHING NEW WAVES U of T’s new Indigenous Radio Show by Tyler Pennock The radio has been in Canadian homes since 1922, when CFCF Montreal began broadcasting. Within a few decades, the airwaves were flooded with new programming and information. Canadians received another boost of information with the introduction of television in the 1950s. If you managed to get a set in those early years, before the advent of regular programming in ’52, you would have seen a single, constant image. In this image, there were five circles, one large circle in the centre, with four smaller ones in each corner. They had various lines, and the number 30 featured prominently in all of them, and in the top of the centre circle was a Plains Indian wearing a full headdress. Since then, many things have changed. Television has become the medium of choice for information gathering for the masses, with the Internet poised to take the lead. Radio stations are now broadcast over satellite, and are even included in cable and digital cable signals. The variety and depth of programming available has exploded, and you can now find any style of show and a host of media ready to cater to nearly every desire.
But the show was missed by the university community and the program director of CIUT, Ken Stowar, approached First Nations House director Jonathan Hamilton-Diabo about starting another Indigenous radio show. After a series of discussions between students, Ken, and FNH staff, a new radio show was born. Indigenous Waves launched its first show on February 8, 2010, and coincided with the start of Aboriginal Awareness Week. The inaugural show was co-hosted by both Jonathan himself and Jessica Keeshig-Martin, and included our first guest, Maya Chacaby, the program coordinator of Ciimaan Language Initiative. Since then, the show has covered Indigenous place names, the blockbuster film Avatar, and an engaging discussion on research and Indigenous communities. Our guests have included author and professor Daniel Justice, student Heather Andrews and instructors Cynthia Wesley-Esquimaux and Jill Carter. Some of the upcoming shows will include discussions on geomythology, water treatment (historical and current) and pan-Indigenous Interactions. Throughout all of this, the show will continue to highlight Indigenous musicians and singers from across north america, and the world. Indigenous Waves is produced by Shannon Simpson, with technical production provided by Zoi Dela Pena. The show is regularly hosted by myself, and features many co-hosts including Christine McFarlane, Jessica Keeshig-Martin and Lindy Kinoshameg, to name a few. In conjunction with the mandate of CIUT, the show provides an alternative to mainstream media in the content and music featured. Above all, Indigenous Waves seeks to be a celebration of Indigenous cultures - locally, nationally and globally. Through music, storytelling, interviews, panel discussions, art and humour, we explore the diversity of all Indigenous peoples. Indigenous Waves airs on 89.5 FM, mondays from 4 pm to 5 pm or you can tune in by checking out www. ciut.fm. It joins Wawatay, Aboriginal Voices Radio, CBC’s Radio 3 and many others in providing yet another public face to Indigenous peoples where at one time only one existed.
In very much the same way, the image of the Indigenous North American has also expanded from the lone warrior of 1950 to the variety of images and peoples now represented. APTN and Aboriginal Voices Radio (AVR) are a valuable part of this, offering programming in many differMAGAZINE FNH
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FNH ALUMNI TANNIS NIELSEN Art is Healing
by Christine McFarlane Tamara Podemski is a multi-disciplinary artist born and raised in Toronto, who is now living in Los Angeles, California. Having been in the entertainment field since the age of fifteen, she was excited about entering the University. “Going back to school to obtain a post secondary education was a breath of fresh air and a chance to identify myself in a new way instead of just as an actress,” she said. Podemski attended the University of Toronto from 2001 to 2005 and obtained her Bachelor of Arts degree in Aboriginal Studies and Hebrew Literature. While attending school she worked on her first album, which was a largely positive experience with lasting effects. “A lot of my classes, like Ojibway language and Oral Traditions took place at First Nations House,” she said. “Being taught without being in the confines of a regular classroom was helpful because I do not thrive well in classroom settings.” She found the alternatives to be more appropriate. “Having classes at FNH was what I saw as a more Indigenous way, a most creative approach to learning.”
She is lead singer for the Los Angeles band Spirit Nation whose album Winter Moons was nominated for a 2001 Aboriginal Music Award. She also released a solo album TAMARA under her own record label, Mukwa Music. Tamara’s music video MEEGWETCH has garnered awards in the U.S and back home in Canada. As a songwriter, Tamara’s songs have been featured on television series such as the The Rez, The Seventh Generation, and Moccasin Flats. She composes songs for theatre productions, as well as for numerous songwriting workshops and music seminars. As a community worker, Tamara joined with her sisters Jennifer and Sarah to create Spread the Word Productions and has traveled the world with them, teaching youth empowerment and how to use music and storytelling as a way to heal. “I am a strong believer in the arts being a powerful healing form,” she said. “And giving people as many outlets as we can, and that can be in any field, like visual arts, dance and film.”
Podemski credits Alex McKay, a professor of the Ojibwe classes at the U of T, in helping her to retain the language. “Language has been instrumental to my career because I learned it and then incorporated it into my music,” she said. “I can perform at a concert, use the language and have the audience singing back to me in the language also, which is very empowering.” Podemski’s acting has spanned across all mediums with credits such as Dance Me Outside, The Rez, Ready or Not, North of 60, MOOSE TV, Rabbit Fall, New Amsterdam, numerous theatre productions and most notably, as a member of the original Canadian Cast of RENT, as well as playing Maureen in the Broadway Company of the production. 6
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Tamara is the first Canadian and first Native person to ever receive the prestigious Special Jury Prize for Acting at the Sundance Film Festival.
by Rebeka Tabobondung Reflecting on her time spent as an undergrad in the Bachelor’s of Fine Arts program – a joint program between the University of Toronto Mississauga and the Sheridan Institute - Métis visual and media artist Tannis Nielsen recalls a feeling of disconnect. “I never saw myself represented,” she said. It wasn’t until she entered the Masters of Visual Studies program at the downtown campus that Nielson was introduced to the social, cultural, and political meaning behind visual narratives - and also to First Nations House (FNH). While at the downtown campus, FNH became a haven for Nielsen. “So many times I would go to FNH looking for support because of negative experiences with a teacher,” she said. While the Visual Studies Program offered her a new lens in which to view and explore the visual imagery of colonization, she did encounter some boundaries, and she recalls one of her teachers resisting the inclusion of Aboriginal and Métis narratives of art into the larger class discourse, an action which had a silencing and isolating affect on her. However, it wasn’t long before Nielson would be introduced to teachers Simon Ortiz and Daniel Justice, within the Aboriginal Studies program, who inspired her and designed an independent studies course on decolonization through art. The effect of this course was deeply motivating and bound to her personal journey of identity as a Métis woman. The experience led her to her thesis, which became an even more profound body of work: “My Masters became a reclamation of myself.”
Robin Sutherland
Entertainer and Role Model TAMARA PODEMSKI
Ontario College of Art and Design [OCAD] where she has since developed several curriculums based on the original independent studies course she completed at U of T. In addition to teaching at OCAD, Nielson works as the youth coordinator at The Native Canadian Centre of Toronto. “(This) has been the most rewarding job in my life,” she said. Nielsen admits that it can be challenging, but she points out, “Our youth have so much going for them, but they still bear scars connected to colonization and deal with tragedy everyday.” Nielsen has both experienced and witnessed the role that art can play for young people, and is committed to incorporating arts within youth programming. “When youth engage in arts processes they begin to locate themselves socially, politically, and culturally,” she said. “They let go of their anger and re-direct it, giving them the tools to re-represent history through arts practice and contribute to the re-birth of our own Indian culture.” Nielsen is an accomplished community based artist and president of the Association of Native Development in the Performing and Visual Arts. Over the years her work has evolved from being in a place of mourning, to anger, and then healing. “Today my work is not so much about healing but rather about exploring creation in its many forms,” she said. In her work, Nielson is now exploring electro-magnetic energy with static and new media. “Using the medium of creation - in a creation - that speaks to creation,” she said. Her latest project includes a multi-disciplinary collaboration with Blackfoot dancer and choreographer, Troy Emery Twigg and the late, acclaimed visual artist Joanne Cardinal-Schubert. Nielson’s art continues to evolve and this year the energy and beauty of landscape is her biggest inspiration as she conjures imagery she says, “reveals the spirit and beauty of the land.”
“School is a good way of learning the language of the colonizer as a means of defense of Métis and Aboriginal culture,” Nielsen said. Today she emulates this belief as an instructor at the MAGAZINE FNH
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FN H ALU MN I FNH ALUMNI
MIMI GELLMAN Finding community in the Academy
by Paulina Vivanco Mimi Gellman, a recent University of Toronto graduate and established Métis mixed-media artist, has an impressive 20-year career. Her sculptures, large-scale installations and architectural glass pieces can be found in galleries, schools and buildings throughout the world, including Toronto’s own Rogers Centre. In fact, this coming fall she will exhibit some of her recent work in Manhattan’s prestigious Museum of Modern Art as part of the show On Line: Alternative Drawings of the 20th Century. Her work will be showcased alongside Marcel Duchamp, Pablo Picasso, Richard Tuttle, Joseph Beuys and Eva Hesse. School for Mimi was not a means to an end; it was part of an ongoing journey in which she had already amassed impressive success. In 2007, despite her diverse and celebrated portfolio, Mimi decided to enrol in U of T’s visual studies program. She chose this program primarily because of its interdisciplinary approach, which allowed her to move “sideways” between the multiple disciplines she wanted to experiment with. Through the work, she was able to merge architecture, comparative sacred studies and conceptual installation into her art. During her two years at U of T, Mimi drew from these disciplines to explore her interest in walking, wandering and mapping as an aesthetic that she eventually developed into her final master’s thesis project. In fact, the two large-scale photographic pieces being exhibited in Manhattan this coming fall, Nightdrawing One and Nightdrawing Two, were originally conceived as part of her thesis. 8
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Reflecting on her days as a student, it is evident that in addition to what she took away from her program, the richness of her experience was also rooted in the connections she made. “You don’t have to be afraid to follow your vision in academia” she says. “You can follow the mentors and trailblazers. There have been many Indigenous scholars who have fought a harder battle than we now have to fight and they prevailed.” First Nations House (FNH) played a pivotal role in Mimi’s cultural connectivity; it is here she was able to connect with her own community. It is here where she found the guidance and support that would take her through her journey at the academy, and it is here where she met or was inspired by ‘the trailblazers’ who showed her which path would best enhance her student experience. “Although staying true to your vision is sometimes difficult, I want Indigenous students to understand that you too can prevail. Just find a good sympathetic thesis advisor, make sure you are strongly connected to your community, connect with First Nations professors especially and make use of the existing support structures that are already established in the Aboriginal network.” Indeed, by finding a community at FNH that she could plug into for support and guidance, Mimi was able to, for the first time in her career, actively engage with her identity as a Métis woman through her art-making. Mimi has taken this wisdom along with her on her new journey as a doctoral student in the Cultural Studies Ph.D. program at Queens University where she is interested in making the case for narrative and oral mapping as legitimate evidence for land and treaty disputes. Also, come this fall, those who use Toronto’s public transit system will get to see some of Mimi’s work related to this area of research as they travel along the St. Clair streetcar line where she has been commissioned to design a glass mural depicting Toronto’s underground river systems atop a bus shelter. As we continue to see and hear about her work, we begin to appreciate that Mimi Gellman, too, has grown into a role model, mentor and trailblazer in her own right, and that she offers new students the kind of leadership that helped her navigate the challenges found in the academy.
“Be fearless and take risks” MARIA HUPFIELD by Paulina Vivanco With a prestigious reputation as one of the finest post-secondary institutions in North America, it is no surprise that the University of Toronto has been the school of choice for thousands of students. Many U of T students go on to build successful careers in their areas of study and some establish themselves as leaders and visionaries who continue to leave their mark wherever they go. Maria Hupfield, U of T alumni and founding member of the 7th Generation Image Makers is one such example. In 1999, Maria graduated with an Honours BA in Art and Art History from the University of Toronto, Mississauga campus and Sheridan College’s joint specialized program. She chose this program specifically because at the time it was the only one that offered both a BA in art history as well as a strong studio component lead by practising artists. In addition, as a proud member of the Wasauksing First Nation, Maria chose U of T based on what she had heard about First Nations House (FNH) and the Aboriginal Studies program. “Being Aboriginal and moving to the city, it was important to have a space to gather and discuss issues with other Aboriginal students who were from different parts of the country and also leaders in their communities,“ she said. Maria also saw the importance of FNH as a harbinger of change. “Most important of all,” she said, “First Nations House signified the acceptance of non-western approaches in education resulting in a more progressive program in a culturally diverse
institution”. While the course and studio work she was engaged in opened the door to her now successful career as an arts practitioner and educator, the support of FNH and Indigenous mentors such as Mary Fox and the late Rodney Bobiwash also played a pivotal role in shaping the kind of artist she is today. Maria credits their support and guidance with finding the confidence she needed to ground her in a firm foundation of critical cultural thinking and life long learning. Her current art practice, which is primarily sculpture, installation, and performance based, explores issues of land, memory, community and gendered power dynamics. Her recent work also explores contemporary Indigenous approaches to aesthetics and design, with a particular focus on the relationship between function and form as they relate to oral traditions and the role of the viewer. “My practice evidences the body as site of resistance and agency,” she said. “Often involving the viewer in the construction of narratives on relationship to land, place and one another. The work I create is interdisciplinary and often reflects the irony of fourth world existence, while exploring alternative, non-Western forms of knowledge. Working across disciplines allows me to engage in intersecting points of dialogue between Indigenous and non-Indigenous visual representations and world views”. After finishing her Honours BA, Maria went on to pursue a Masters of Fine Arts degree at York University and has since exhibited her work throughout Canada. Currently, she is an assistant professor at Emily Carr University of Art and Design in Vancouver, BC where she teaches drawing and Aboriginal approaches to object and image making. Maria’s successes, talents, and commitment to learning and creating have enabled her to establish a name for herself in the arts communities. And although her career has still to take her in new and exiting directions, we can be assured that this former U of T student will continue to shine wherever her passion takes her. MAGAZINE FNH
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Robin Sutherland & Aaron Mason
Aboriginal Awareness Week
Indigenous Knowledge
in the World Today by Jessica Keeshig-Martin Highlighting Indigenous cultures from around the globe, the 2010 Aboriginal Awareness Week gathered together people and spirit at First Nations House and at locations around campus. Artwork by Lindy Kinoshameg set the tone for a week showcasing art, music, language, talent, books and physical activity for anyone who wanted to join. This year’s event incorporated many of the wonderful activities featured each year, as well as embracing new and exciting activities tied to this year’s theme, including IMAGINEnative’s screening of short films. A sporting skills session which included lacrosse, Australian rules football and capeoira coincided with the opening of the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver. Bringing about awareness not only signifies cultural celebration, but also requires education of the issues facing Indigenous groups, and their growth and progress as a people. The opportunity to listen to the experiences of the Sagamok Anishnabek First Nation students, who recently embarked on a journey to meet the Maori people of New Zealand was both educational and demystifying. The film featured at Hart House, Club Native, portrayed the issues facing youth today and presented panel discussions of worldview and food security among other issues in the community that were enlightened by the knowledge of notable speakers and Elders. The weeklong roster of events was a well rounded, community gathering, full of emotion and triumph for students, faculty and community members. 10 FNH MAGAZINE
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When he was little, Darrell Dennis wanted to be whatever job Harrison Ford was doing in his most recent movie. “Archeologist, cop, pilot... I guess I always wanted to be an actor,” he said. “But when you grow up on the reserve that I did, you never thought that could be a possibility.” The Secwepemc comedian and writer lowered his expectations based on what was available around him. Instead he says, “I just settled for wanting to be a mechanic or a logger.” Dennis started at the University in the early 2000’s, accessing his educational aspirations through the successful Transitional Year Program (TYP). He majored in english with a double minor in Aboriginal studies and religion. He credits TYP and hard work with his subsequent success in the University. “As a result of my work there I was awarded a scholarship (National Scholars) to study full time.” He became a First Nations House (FNH) regular. “I used (FNH) quite a bit for my work in the Aboriginal Studies Program,” he said. “As well as for the Internet use, and as a study and hang out spot. The main library was invaluable as well as the study and reference libraries at Hart House.” Since leaving U of T, he has mainly concentrated on his successful career as a writer. He says, “The english and Aboriginal studies courses have been instrumental in helping me carve out a career as a professional screenwriter and stand up comic,” Dennis said. “As well as leading to my job as creator, host, and writer of the popular CBC radio show Revision Quest.” And as with many students he credits the amazing personalities to be found at FNH for their guidance. “Lee Maracle was a big inspiration and supporter at U of T as well as pretty much all my instructors in the Aboriginal Studies program,” he said. Darrell’s golden road to his dreams continued on after U of T, when he was accepted into the prestigious Sundance ScreenWriters program out of thirteen people in the world. While there, he had a chance to spend time with Robert Redford who inspired him greatly through his humanitarian work. Currently, Darrell is working on his third season of Revision Quest. While being interviewed for his profile, he was in Los Angeles performing the one man show he wrote called Tales of an Urban Indian and working on the development of two TV shows for two Canadian TV networks. Darrell Dennis has come a long way from settling for a future in logging. He followed his dreams to the University of Toronto and into a great future of his own creation, never forgetting the importance of carrying his people with him. “I am trying to break misconceptions and stereotypes about Aboriginal people,” he said. “Using humour through the mediums of film, television, radio, written word, and performance.” 12 FNH MAGAZINE
Indigenous Writers` Gathering
BRINGING THE BEST TO U of T
For one night and one day, the best and brightest in Indigenous authors set up shop at First Nations House. Metis poet Gregory Scofield, fresh from the launch of his CD book collection I Knew Two Metis Women (published by the Gabriel Dumont Institute) joined Trent University professor, painter and poet Neal McLeod, poet Joanne Arnott, Kegedonce Press owner, author and spoken word artist Kateri Akiwenzie-Damm and renowned writing legend Lee Maracle. Kinnie Starr, on the last leg of her Canadian tour for newly released CD A Different Day, and award winning filmmaker Shane Belcourt rounded out the prestigious roster of guests. Monday & Tuesday March 29th & 30th FREE
& OPEN TO THE PUBLIC!
GALA READING NIGHT:
7:00PM - 9PM Monday, March 29 • Multifaith Centre - Main Activity Hall 569 Spadina Avenue (beside FNH)
All Star Performance featuring: Singer, songwriter extraordinaire, Kinnie Starr Poet and publisher Kateri Akiwenzie-Damm Writing legend Lee Maracle Poet and educator Neal McLeod Renowned British Columbia based poets Gregory Scofield and Joanne Arnott
FULL DAY OF WORKSHOPS:
Space is limited, seating on a first-come basis
Tuesday, March 30th • First Nations House (Borden Building North) 563 Spadina Avenue
10:00AM - 11:30PM Writing for Film: FNH Lounge (3rd floor) Interested in writing for screen? Sit with award winning director Shane Belcourt to learn about the methods, the path and the industry.
10:00AM - 11:30PM Songwriting and the Business of Music: FNH loft (4th floor) Does the world of music and songwriting call you? Join recording artist and published author Kinnie Starr to learn the ins-and-outs of the industry and the creative process.
11:45AM - 1:15PM Getting Published: FNH Lounge (3rd floor) Do you want to get published? Check out the Get Published, 101 workshop with Kegedonce Press owner Kateri Akiwenzie-Damm 1:30PM – 2:30PM Grants for Writers: Aboriginal Studies Lounge (2nd floor) Want to learn about getting grants and accessing supports through the Ontario Arts Council? Join the OAC Literary and Aboriginal Arts officers to get the scoop on grant programs.
2:45PM – 4:30PM Poetry as Voice: Aboriginal Studies Lounge (2nd floor) Want to know about reclamation of voice and tradition through poetry with some of the very best? Lee Maracle, Gregory Scofield and Neal McLeod will take part in this panel discussion. Moderated by poet Joanne Arnott. PLUS Stop by for breakfast with the writers in the Aboriginal Studies Lounge on Tuesday, March 30 at 9:00AM - 10:00AM Stay with us for sandwiches and talk in the Aboriginal Studies Lounge (2rd floor) after the workshops on Tuesday, March 30 at 4:30PM for more information: or contact:
www.fnh-writer-in-rez.blogspot.com FNH at 416-978-8227
First Nations House (FNH) Borden Building North 563 Spadina Avenue Multifaith Centre (beside FNH) 569 Spadina Avenue
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Monday night`s reading event held at the University`s Multi-faith Centre was a huge hit and featured alumni and past Native Student Association President Rebeka Tabobondung as host. In his welcoming remarks, First Nations House director Jonathan Hamilton-Diabo thanked the original writer in residence: “Without Lee Maracle, we never would have started this festival. Last year was our inaugural gathering and we hope to be able to continue the tradition.” Tuesday started off with ‘Breakfast with the Writers’ in the Aboriginal Studies Lounge area where guests and students had the opportunity to sit for coffee with some of the world`s best Aboriginal authors. Workshops throughout the day included filmmaking with Shane Belcourt, song-writing with Kinnie Starr, accessing grants with the Ontario Arts Council, getting published with Kateri Akiwenzie-Damm and the very popular Poetry as Voice featuring a star studded panel comprised of Lee Maracle, Neal McLeod, Gregory Scofield and moderated by Joanne Arnott. “I think it is very indicative of the large group of emerging and talented writers we have here at First Nations House,” said current writer in residence, Cherie Dimaline on the success of the event. ”I am so pleased that we were able to secure such a stellar line-up of speakers, but even more pleased with the tremendous turn-out from the community.” With the impressive emerging writer community present at the University and in particular within the Aboriginal student population, more Indigenous Writers’ Gatherings and events are sure to follow.
Writers from across the country included (clockwise from top) Lee Maracle, Kateri Akiwenzie-Damm, Kinnie Starr, Gregory Scofield, Neal McLeod, Shane Belcourt and Joanne Arnott.
Robin Sutherland
One Tale of an Urban Indian DARRELL DENNIS
MAGAZINE FNH 13
HE HOLDS ON TIGHT TO HIS “BAG OF POEMS”, HIS “LIFE” by Jorge Antonio Vallejos
WHO I AM by Christine McFarlane Yesterday I walked alone
And those before her Who rose up against Invisibility and oppression
My head down As I walked Cloaked in shame
Celebrated their ways spoke their languages
Ignorant to who I was And what I represented
and never forgot who they were and where they came from.
Yesterday I walked alone
I am part of a nation Who refuses
I listened to the words You will never amount To anything
To be silenced.
All because of my race, The color of my skin And the stereotypes Instilled by those Who thought they Could kill us By putting us down
Christine McFarlane is an emerging writer and third year student specializing in Aboriginal Studies. Her creative works have been published in Growing Up Girl: Voices from Marginalized Spaces, and Yellow Medicine Review. Christine is also a freelance writer for Anishinabek News, the Native Canadian and First Nations House Magazine; she writes about issues that are close to her and hopes that by sharing her stories, others will find the courage to tell theirs.
Yesterday I walked alone My head down As I walked Cloaked in shame I never realized Until I started my journey Of healing And reclaiming myself And the ways of my people That the ghosts Of my past Would continue to walk With me Until I stood up And told them I will not take it anymore I am who I am A First Nations woman Proud of myself
14 FNH MAGAZINE
FROM THE HUSH by Rebeka Tabobondung
RE-BIRTH by Nicole Tanguay Didn’t the Spanish inquisition Happen so long ago That the blood Spilled on ground Dried up giving Birth to colours Of yellow Red Purple Green Blood dried Deep into the earth Mixing with the water Earth Turning into mud Building molds Of pain last drawn Nicole Tanguay is of French and Cree ancestry. Along with being an activist, she is a musician, poet, and playwright. Her works have been published in numerous anthologies. Nicole is also a teacher who is dedicated to helping others find their writing voice.
Inside his thesis are the kept stories of the big change the big slide of the ugly people inside his pages contorting tides carrying the names of Chiefs and families marking dead names in the name of dead hands hand down only hard things that you can see or palm like the Big Slide Slid right over the summer camp knocked the People onto the island Hid them while they paddled back and forth busy forgetting songs and words In just one great push they forgot so much of it they are still on that island forgetting I am reading his words tell it In German In English She told him to write it down for us Dressed him in the gifts of the directions To which he was surely oblivious To the ache of the belly starved tongues whispering the panic of the East Fire dancing And burning I have his words now he is still dressed Rebeka Tabobondung is a filmmaker, poet, Indigenous education researcher, and a recent M.A. graduate from Sociology & Equity Studies at OISE. Rebeka’s documentary “The Original Summit: Journey to the Sacred Uprising” has screened at festivals across Canada and internationally while her written works have been published in numerous journals and anthologies throughout North America.
that’s the reason I read him, learn him, honour him: Last Night, today, tomorrow. His Poem For Jody About Leaving, not wanting to go but doing it anyway, helped me forgive my father, releasing h a t e, feeling “how it is” slowly “going away.” Reading about Leonard Bluebird reminded me of my mother when she had lymphoma, and how I did circles on my bike behind the hospital while yelling and “cussing” after the doctor said, she, A Dying Warrior, had six months to live. In hard times like this, I now visualize Crow “on his wind road.” I write because he taught me “The only way to continue is to tell a story and there is no other way.” For Simon Ortiz Meegwetch for weaving stones. Jorge Antonio Vallejos is a mixed race poet, essayist, and journalist. His work has appeared in The Kenyon Review, Our Times, Toronto Star, and is forthcoming in Descant. Jorge loves spicy food, boxing, and meeting new readers and writers.
MAGAZINE FNH 15
Tannis Neilson, Pain of Being 1999 “the pain of being” is titled in relation to the Catholic residential school experience. Although my Mother (Merle Monkman, who is the subject of this painting) did not in fact attend a residential school, she was raised by my Kookum (Kitty Boucher) who was taught by the Grey Nuns.”
See page 7 for Tannis’ profile.