ICYMI – february 2020 Event Highlights
Art Connects: Building Cultural Competence in the Arts Monday, Feb 24, 2020 | Meridian Arts Centre, Upper Gallery
PROGRAM SUMMARY
PAONE was so pleased to have 18 members from 15 arts organizations present at Art Connects: Building Cultural Competence in the Arts. North York Arts (NYA) partnered with PAONE to present this event and Melissa Foster and Cecilia Garcia attended from their staff. We were grateful to share time with four program consultants: Maria Montejo, Aqua Nibii Waawaaskone, Veronica Johnny and Elder Joanne Dallaire. We shared a meal and participated in an open discussion on building positive and authentic relationships with Indigenous communities in the arts sector.
NYA received a grant from the Minister of Canadian Heritage and Multiculturalist from the Multiculturalism Program: Community Capacity Building – Community Support, Multiculturalism, and Anti-Racism Initiatives Program.
This grant allowed them to facilitate a comprehensive program with the four program consultants consisting of two full-day meetings for in-depth learning and discussion, an NYA board development day, medicine wheel teachings and an informational session with the Downsview-Roding Neighbourhood Planning Table, and an evaluation de-brief. The grant also allowed NYA to host two sharing sessions: one with invited Art Service Organizations and the other with PAONE members.
DISCUSSION SUMMARY
The discussion began with NYA sharing their land acknowledgement - wording that was jointly composed through in-depth discussion and learning.
“We acknowledge that North York is the traditional land of the Huron-Wendat, the Seneca, Haudenosaunee and most recently, the Mississaugas of the Credit River. We also acknowledge that Toronto is covered by treaty 13.
This territory is the subject of the Dish With One Spoon Wampum Belt Covenant, a treaty between the Anishinaabe, Mississaugas, and Haudenosaunee that bound them to share the territory and protect the land. Subsequent Indigenous Nations and peoples, settlers and all newcomers, have been invited into this treaty in the spirit of peace, friendship and respect.
North York Arts recognizes that truth and reconciliation is a continuous process and while this land acknowledgement is a crucial step, our organization has much more work to do. By adhering to our values and leading with authenticity, we are committed to building positive relationships with Indigenous peoples, the wider community, and the environment.
We aim to create shared spaces where we honour art as an expression of spirit and a platform for storytelling. We will continue to educate and be educated, and we will strive for balance in all of our relations. By creating these opportunities, it is our hope that we foster a more inclusive, engaged, and sustainable North York community for generations to come.
We are truly grateful to be able to work and create on this land.”
Elder Joanne commented, “It’s not a little thing for an organization to do this. Reconciliation comes to us through others.” Sage (white sage/white buffalo sage) was burned and a smudging ceremony brought all those present into a shared space. Burning sage is a practice that kills bacteria, rids the space of negativity, and welcomes in the spirits. We were taught to rub our hands over the smoke and then over our head so that we could “see, hear, speak, think, and feel the truth.” Participants were encouraged to make smudge available as an option in their spaces of teaching, creation, and art by leaving sage in a bowl with matches near where people would enter.
A gift of tobacco and sage were presented to the program consultants as a sign of respect and gratitude. The offering should be gifted along with a wish or intention for those present.
The chairs were set up in a circle as circles show that we are all equals and energy travels through the path of least resistance, connecting everyone.
Lessons taken away:
We own nothing, but are simply stewards of it. This applies to stories, land, ceremonies, animals, etc. Indigenous people have lost so much and yet the goal is not ownership, but stewardship and taking the care to pass knowledge along to the next generation.
Be a seed planter! You may not see the harvest, but hope that you have laid the foundation for change.
Art of non-interference (Cree teaching): Take someone where they are and offer help only if they want it.
When it comes to education and setting examples for those who are learning how to navigate relationships with folks outside of their own communities, keep in mind that we learn through what is seen and heard; not what we are told.
If you’ve made a mistake (used the wrong word, misunderstood a teaching, etc.), correct it and move on. There is not a word for “mistake” in many Indigenous languages. Instead it is seen as an opportunity to learn.
We heard about the difference between Western and Indigenous methodologies of education. An Indigenous approach to learning is holistic and multidimensional; learning through the physical, emotional, and spiritual self. Western evaluation of gained knowledge places value on the mind, educating a skill through repetition and testing. It was wisely noted that integrative understanding happens when a teaching becomes part of you, not kept in the mind and only talked about.
An open forum Q&A allowed PAONE members to ask questions of Aqua, Joanne, and Veronica which were understood to come from a place of good intention and wanting to be better allies. It feels important to note that this discussion did not come close to representing all Indigenous communities and simply reflected the opinions of those present. Focus must be shifted away from a pan-Indigenous mindset. Rather, open communication will allow for compassionate learning of specific cultures and individual experiences.
PAONE wishes to thank North York Arts, Joanne, Veronica, Aqua and Maria for their collaboration and assistance in creating this event. It is a step on the path to learning and forging stronger relationships.
