The Art is the Land, and the Land is the Art
Five Ways to Experience Indigenous History and Culture through the Arts
Written by: Christin Yan and D’arcy Han
Image courtesy of the Signal
Why the Arts?
Why not? What better way to step into someone else’s shoes, hear their most private thoughts, and get a glimpse of their way of life than watching a story unfold on film, listening to the singers’ voices rejoice in harmony, or seeing vignettes of someone’s life captured in prints.
The possibilities are endless, and the sensory impact is incomparable. Whether it’s in the form of sculpture, painting, photography, film, music, dance, written book, and many more formats not listed here, the Arts are a mighty thing that powerfully transmit messages and elicit emotions. Through these media, artists share their story, traditions, culture, and identity with their audience. These works help connect us to the land of a different point in time, to the First Peoples, and to the pain and joy they experienced then and now. In honor of Indigenous History month 2022, with this blog, we attempt to show a small cross section of the rich Indigenous artistic work that exists on Turtle Island and recognize the immense talent behind this body of work.
1. Film
Imagine you’ve travelled back in time to the 1920s. You find yourself standing inside an Indian Residential school, watching children forcefully separated from their parents. You cannot change history, but you can capture a piece of history and show it to the world – you can do that through films. A film can effectively convey the gravity and cruelty of colonization as well as the deep grief it unleashed onto generations.
Image courtesy of Elevation Pictures (Canada), Moonrise Pictures (International)
Transporting its audience to another dimension, filmmakers use cinematography, music, plot, performance and more to awaken a wide range of emotions. "Indian Horse" is a drama based on the novel “Indian Horse” written by Richard Wagamese. (Spoiler alert!) Centered around Saul Indian Horse, who survived residential school and became a star hockey player, the story revealed his struggles. Saul along with his Indigenous teammates were the target of racism. The film deals with a variety of subjects of trauma from sexual abuse, residential school, dream and shame, and identity and acceptance. It focused on a man’s connection to the land that he comes from, his desire to find it in pursuit of peace and happiness, and how this connection is instrumental in helping him heal from the past.
Other titles we highly recommend for you to include on your watch list:
Angry Inuk (2016)
We Will Stand Up (2020)
Bring Her Home (2022)
Edge of the Knife (2018)
2. Sculpture/Carving
Image courtesy of CBC/Radio Canada.
Wood carvings from totem poles to sculptures, boxes to masks, are symbolic for their creators. Totem poles are monuments built by Pacific Northwest First Nations to memorialize and honor mother nature, ancestors, histories, or events. They can symbolize deep meanings of cultural significance and evoke lost memories. In the context of reconciliation, totem poles are commemorative of events such as residential schools. They are primarily made from red cedar, a pliable wood that grows in the Pacific Northwest. The art of pole carving requires a sophisticated sense of aesthetic and a deep understanding of Indigenous history and forest ecology. Carved by Haida master carver and hereditary Chief James Hart using a Haida Gwaii 800-year-old red cedar, this magnificent Reconciliation Totem pole erected in memory of the children who suffered as a result of residential school system, was unveiled at UBC in 2017 (pictured above).
Image courtesy of the Canadian Press
To symbolize their condolences, thousands of copper nails were hammered on by the residential school survivors and their family members (CBC/Radio Canada, 2017). Images of children and their spirit protectors, as well as canoe and longboat can be seen in the carving, symbolizing moving forward (CBC/Radio Canada, 2017).
These beautiful and intricate woodworks are always revealing, of the artist’s spiritual connection with nature and the wisdom passed on from ancestors, and sometimes of the pain from colonization. Each piece carries memories within. You can catch some of the best carving work in Vancouver at the following locations:
· Bill Reid Gallery of Northwest Coast Art
· Coastal Peoples Fine Arts Gallery
· Grand Chief Bernard Robert Charles Memorial Plaza, Lions Lookout Park (Totem Park), White Rock
If you are venturing out, here is a list of where you can see them in the rest of BC.
3. Performance Art
Performance art is often avant-garde, sharp, and bold because it is often the shock value, intense reactions that the art form seeks. It demands that people pay attention to the message. James Luna is a well-known Native American performance artist, photographer, and multimedia installation artist. Luna enjoys challenging racial classifications through his work by exposing the lives of Indigenous peoples in the context of white supremacy. His work is a direct conduit to understanding the Indigenous experience, and often filled with sarcasm and bold elements. "The Artifact Piece"(1987) and "Take a Picture with a Real Indian" (1991–1993) are two of the most astonishing and well-known exhibitions in his career to date. Through these pieces, he sought to reverse the typical Eurocentric display of Native Americans which were often found in most museums. He shows them living in contemporary society as opposed to place in a natural history setting (Caldwell, 2015).
Image courtesy of James Luna
In The Artifact Piece (1987) at the Museum of Humanity in San Diego (pictured above), Luna wears only a belt and lies naked in a display case full of sand. Around him we see his favorite music, college diploma and other personal belongings. He often placed himself in the museum display, in the Indian culture and history section. The marks and scars on his body are clearly visible and are meant to imply that they were acquired through drinking, fighting, or accidents (Blocker, 2009). Luna challenges the traditional interpretation and display of the Native American identity.
Image Courtesy of Garth Greenan Gallery
In 1991, Luna stood outside Union Station in Washington, D.C., and performed his photo exhibition "Take a picture with a real Indian” (Righthand, 2011). Luna stopped on the podium in a traditional Indian suit and said to the audience: “Take a picture with a real Indian. Take a picture here, in Washington, D.C., on this beautiful Monday morning, on this holiday called Columbus Day.” In this piece, he satirizes people’s tendency to consume aboriginal life and culture. His work challenges the way society popularizes Indigenous culture and makes it into something that can be mass-produced, consumed, and enjoyed without acknowledging the deep history of oppression suffered by Native Americans (Righthand, 2011).
4. Music and Dance
Music and dance are integrated into Indigenous peoples’ lives, traditionally through ceremonies. There is great diversity reflected in groups’ own musical traditions, repertoire and meanings. In urban centres, one can attend powwows to witness the magnificent display of traditional customs. There is a thriving contemporary music scene swimming with immense Indigenous talent. These artists range in genres from folk, rock, jazz, hip hop to electronic music. Many artists incorporate texts, traditional instruments and vocal style to express their Indigeneity. Many artists are known for their activism for Indigenous rights through their music and performance. Much like contemporary musicians, organizations such as Raven Spirit Dance and Red Sky Performance create beautiful contemporary work rooted in Indigenous worldviews. Check out local festivals such as the Talking Stick festival and the Coastal Dance festival.
You can check out a list of Indigenous artists and their music here.
Red Sky Performance, image courtesy of CBC Radio
5. Paintings
Indigenous peoples did not have a significant panting tradition until the early twentieth century. The nomadic culture had little interest in transporting artworks around and people would rather bring blankets pots around for daily using (SeeGreatArt, 2022). Later, drawing and painting became an accessible medium with which people recorded the colonial experience and its impact.
Image courtesy of CBC News
Pictured above is an acrylic on canvas titled “Cattle truck” by Mary Caesar. Mary, a Kaska Dena and member of the Liard First Nation, like many of her peers, was put into residential school at a young age and in their case, transported against their will in a cattle truck. “Even from the first day I stepped foot into that school I felt already afraid, abandoned. I felt terrified,” says Caesar (Morin, 2016). Mary’s painting draws a stark metaphor between residential school and slaughterhouse, depicting the inhumane treatment these children and families received.
Image courtesy of Yukon Permanent Art Collection
As Mary explains in her book “My Healing Journey”, “it’s a way of healing; it’s an of letting it go, letting go of the memories and getting it on canvas”. She also emphasizes the urgency and necessity of these stories being told to the world. Through her work, she hopes to help continue the reconciliation process.
To explore the Indigenous visual arts, start with the following links:
· The Indigenous Collection | Art Gallery of Ontario (ago.ca)
· Visit Garth Green Gallery
Work Cited
Blocker, J. (2009). Seeing Witness: Visuality and the Ethics of Testimony (NED-New edition). University of Minnesota Press. Retrieved June 21, 2022, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5749/j.cttts53b
Caldwell, E. C. (2015, December 25). How Luiseno Indian artist James Luna resists cultural ... - jstor daily. Retrieved June 21, 2022, from https://daily.jstor.org/native-disruptions-with-artist-james-luna/.
CBC/Radio Canada. (2017, April 2). Reconciliation totem pole goes up at UBC | CBC News. CBCnews. Retrieved June 20, 2022, from https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/reconciliation-totem-pole-goes-up-at-ubc-1.4050078
Harris, S. (2020, December 15). James Luna: Take a picture with a real Indian. The Brooklyn Rail. Retrieved June 21, 2022, from https://brooklynrail.org/2020/12/artseen/James-Luna-Take-a-Picture-with-a-Real-Indian
Indigenous art-What about painting? See Great Art. (2022, June 1). Retrieved June 24, 2022, from https://www.seegreatart.art/indigenous-art/
Morin, P. (2016, September 4). 'Getting it on canvas': Yukon artist paints to heal residential school memories | CBC News. CBCnews. Retrieved June 24, 2022, from https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/mary-caesar-new-residential-school-painting-series-1.3747127
Righthand, Jess (May 2011). "Q and A with James Luna". Smithsonian. Retrieved June 21, 2022, from Q and A: James Luna | Arts & Culture| Smithsonian Magazine