I was asked by the Ontario Arts Council to create a piece of artwork for the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, based on my artistic practice of text, textiles and photography. I was brought back to one line in a poem I wrote a few years ago: “Listen to your ancestors’ dreams”, a reminder to consider those who came before us and the dreams they have for us and our communities. For me, this resonates with September 30 because reconciliation means that everyone strives to create a country in which Indigenous peoples are able to live out their ancestors’ dreams, dreams that many of our families had to bury in order to survive colonization and residential schools. It is up to the Canadian state and all Canadians to move aside and let Indigenous people and communities thrive and to provide support in order for Indigenous generations now and into the future to be what their ancestors dreamed: speaking our languages, practicing our cultures and ceremonies, eating our traditional foods, living in healthy ways, and in respectful relation with one another.
Using a blanket hand sewn with text is a reference to how blankets are close familial objects, passed down between generations, often given as gifts to signify important life moments and rites of passage in many communities and a nod to the seamstresses and sewers that are in my matrilineal line. The idea and practice of dreaming evoked in the text reminds us that even if we weren’t able to spend time with our ancestors or they were lost to our families or communities in the Sixties Scoop or residential school system, child-welfare system or justice system, they can continue to communicate with us and help us through our dreams.
Photo assistant: Alyssa Bardy
Model: Amari Asmar