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I started making things when I was around five. I grew up surrounded by people
who made things all the time. From a very early age, I thought it was the work of
people to make beautiful things
- Gail Tremblay (Onondaga, Mohawk and Mi’kmaq
The Kitanmax School of Northwest Coastal Art was started because we need to
reclaim our traditional performance arts … Up until 1951 we couldn’t practice our
arts because of the potlatch ban and the danger of going to jail. Once the potlatch
law was lifted, we had to reclaim our arts by relearning them.
Doreen Jensen (Gitsxan)
Class location: TIER 312
Dates & Times: M-W-F 1:30am-2:20pm (January 5 – April 8)
Dr. Sherry Farrell Racette
Office: Isbister Building 204-C (474-6720)
Office Hours: Wed. 2:45 – 4:30 pm, or by appointment
Email: farrellr@cc.umanitoba (preferred method of communication)
Please note: I only check my e-mail Monday-Friday 9am–5pm. Do not expect responses
during evenings or weekends, and allow AT LEAST 24 hours for a reply. Please save
copies of all e-mail correspondence.*
Course description: This is a special topics course exploring Native Women in the Arts
with an emphasis on visual arts, performance and film. The first part of the course will
be structured around the major exhibition Close Encounters: the next 500 Years
(opening January 21) and a mini-film festival organized for this class. Noted film maker,
and multi-media artist Shelley Niro (Mohawk) and documentary filmmaker Tasha
Hubbard (Cree) are the invited guest artists for this course, courtesy of the Women’s and
Gender Studies Program and The Centre for Creative Writing and Oral Culture.
This course is not organized in chronological order, rather we will begin with an
immersion in current arts practices, then back-track to explore historic roots, traditional
arts, pioneer artists, and the role of women artists in cultural continuity, activism and
changing the face of contemporary art. This course will have an Angel site where
readings, images and links related to lectures will be posted 24 hours prior to class,
while Power Point presentations will be posted after class. Lecture notes will not be
posted and will not be available from me.
PARTICIPATION IN JANUARY’S OUT-OF-CLASSROOM EVENTS IS A REQUIRED COMPONENT
OF THIS COURSE. THIS INCLUDES CLOSE ENCOUNTERS AND FILM SCREENINGS.
COURSE TEXTS AND READINGS
Cynthia Chavez, Sherry Farrell Racette, eds. with Lara Evans, Art in Our Lives: Native
Women Artists in Dialogue (SAR Press, 2010).
Identity by Design: Tradition, Change, and Celebration in Native Women’s Dresses
(National Museum of the American, Smithsonian Institute, 2007).
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Students will be assigned one - two readings per week, either from the course texts or
readings that will be either distributed in class or posted on the course Angel Site 24
hours prior to discussion.
Key On-Line Resources:
Aboriginal Curatorial Collective http://www.aboriginalcuratorialcollective.org/
The Aboriginal Curatorial Collective is a professional association designed to advance
Indigenous curatorial practice. Web site resources include online exhibitions,
biographies and an extensive bibliography of curatorial and critical writing on Aboriginal
art.
Beyond Buckskin: About Native American Fashion
http://beyondbuckskin.blogspot.com/
A blog on contemporary Native fashion by Jessica Metcalfe, Turtle Mountain Chippewa
and recent graduate from the Ph.D. program in American Indian Studies from the
University of Arizona.
Identity by Design: Tradition, Change, and Celebration in Native Women’s Dresses
http://www.nmai.si.edu/exhibitions/identity_by_design/IdentityByDesign.html
Identity by Design originated as an exhibition at the National Museum of the American
Indian in Washington D. C. In addition to the exhibition catalogue (our class text), there
is also a website featuring highlights of the exhibiton, artists and curators.
Not Artomatic: a blog wrestling with art http://travelpeapod.wordpress.com/about/
A blog by Lara Evans, a Cherokee artist, professor, art historian and curator. See the
“For Students Using This Site” on the right-hand menu of the home page.
COURSE EVALUATION:
Guidelines will be provided for each written assignment on a specified date. A
hard copy of the guidelines will be posted on the Angel site 24 hours prior to that
class.
Close Encounters Journal
Discussion Leader / Artist Talk
Participation / Hard Work
Essay
FINAL EXAM
15%
20%
20%
25%
20%
Close Encounters Journal
15%
JANUARY 28
AS SCHEDULED
APRIL 7
TBA
Due January 28
You will attend as many of the events scheduled for the Close Encounters Exhibition as
you can. Of particular importance are the artist panels, curator and artist talks. There
will be some awesome male artists at this event, but stay focused on the women!
Guidelines will be discussed in class on Monday, January 17.
Discussion Leader / Artist Talk
20%
As assigned (on going)
The discussion of women artists has been organized into four sections: 19 th and early
20th Century Pioneers, Mid-20th Century Pioneers, Making a Noise: Banging on Doors and
Movers and Shakers. Students will be assigned to a section (A-D) and will present during
that section of the course. Students are responsible for developing a poster
presentation on an assigned artist, and for taking a lead role in class discussion.
Guidelines will be discussed in class on Monday, January 10.
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Participation / Hard Work
NATIVE WOMEN AND THE ARTS
20%
This includes attendance, engagement on the Angel site, participation in class,
attendance at class events, and helping out with class activities and events. Come to
class prepared, ready to discuss the assigned readings. It is recommended that students
prepare brief written summaries of assigned readings to prepare for class discussions.
Students should organize their reading notes, summaries, questions generated during
class, film screenings, artist talks etc. into a portfolio to be submitted as evidence of
their level of participation. Ten percent of the total participation mark will be a selfassessment using a sound rationale, evidence and criteria I will provide you with.
Essay (2500 words)
20%
Suggested topics and guidelines for the essay will be distributed Monday, January 31.
Topic, outline, annotated bibliography due Monday, February 28
ESSAYS SUBMITTED WITHOUT AN APPROVED OUTLINE AND BIBLIOGRAPHY WILL
NOT BE ACCEPTED
Final Exam
25%
The final exam will be based on information contained in reading assignments, class
lectures, class discussions, and in-class screenings and visual presentations. All course
materials “count.” In terms of format, expect a mixed bag, including such possibilities as
short-answer questions, identifications, multiple choice, and essay questions.
Grading Scheme
A+ Exceptional (90-100%)
A Excellent (80-89%)
B+ Very Good (75-79%)
B Good (70-74%)
C+
C
D
F
Satisfactory (65-69%)
Adequate (60-64%)
Marginal (50-59%)
Failure (less than 50%)
*Final grades subject to Program review*
Penalties and Course Policies
All assignments must be submitted in-class, by the end of that class, on the due date.
ELECTRONIC COPIES, FAXED COPIES, OR WORK SLIPPED UNDER OR ATTACHED TO MY
OFFICE DOOR WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED. DO NOT EMAIL YOUR ASSIGNMENT. I WILL
DISREGARD ASSIGNMENTS SO SUBMITTED. It is your responsibility to ensure that I
receive, in person, your assignments on time. If you miss the due date, submit it the
following class and accept the penalty of -2% for each day.
EXTENSIONS IN ADVANCE WILL ONLY BE GRANTED under exceptional circumstances for
which documentation will be provided. If you realize you may have difficulty meeting
the due dates please contact me as soon as possible so that we can discuss how to
manage the time you allocate to this course.
No rewrites to improve grades will be allowed.
I WILL NOT RESCHEDULE DUE DATES TO ACCOMMODATE PERSONAL SCHEDULES.
Academic Dishonesty
Students should acquaint themselves with the University’s policy on plagiarism,
cheating, exam personation, and duplicate submission (see Section 8: Academic
Integrity, pp. 27-28, in the University of Manitoba Undergraduate Calendar 2010-2011).
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Penalties for Academic Dishonesty
The common penalty in Arts for plagiarism on a written assignment is F on the paper
and F (CW) (For Compulsory Withdrawal) for the course. For the most serious acts of
plagiarism, such as the purchase of an essay and repeat violations, this penalty can also
include suspension for a period of up to five years from registration in courses taught in
a particular department in Arts or from all courses taught in this Faculty.
The Faculty also reserves the right to submit student work that is suspected of being
plagiarized to Internet sites designed to detect plagiarism.
The common penalty in Arts for academic dishonesty on a test or examination is F for
the paper and F (CW) for the course. For more serious acts of academic dishonesty on a
test or examination, such as repeat violations, this penalty can also include suspension
for a period of up to five years from registration in courses taught in a particular
department in Arts or from all courses taught in this Faculty.
TOPIC OUTLINE:
January
Introduction: Native Women and the Arts
Behind the Camera: Native Women in Photography, Video and Film
Close Encounters: the Next 500 Years
Native Women in Vaudeville, Silent Film and Literary Performance (A)
February
Traditional Arts: Creativity, Identity and Economy (B&D)
The Culture Ban: When Art was Outlawed
THERE WILL BE NO CLASSES FEB. 14-18
March
Reclaiming Traditional Practice (B)
Where Were the Women? Government Policies and Expo ’67 (B)
Mid-Twentieth Century Pioneers (B)
Making a Noise: Fighting for Institutional Change (C)
Movers and Shakers (D)
April
Art and Healing (D)
Close Encounters: the Next 500 Years JANUARY 19-23
Close Encounters: the Next 500 Years is the Banner Project of ARTS FOR ALL, Winnipeg
Cultural Capital of Canada 2010. This is a major arts event organized by Plug In Gallery.
An intense schedule of openings, curatorial lectures and artist talks will take place from
JANUARY 19-23. It provides a rare opportunity to meet / listen to/ view the work of the
most important Indigenous women artists and curators, including artists from Australia
and New Zealand, right here in Winnipeg:
Curators:
Artists:
Lee-Ann Martin (Mohawk), Candice Hopkins (Tlingit), Jenny Western
(Metis), Rosalie Favell (Metis)
Mary Anne Barkhouse (Kwakwaka’wak), Faye HeavyShield (Kainawa),
Nadia Myre (Algonquin), Rebecca Belmore (Ojibwe), Rosalie Favell …
MOST OF THE ARTISTS WILL BE IN ATTENDANCE
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EVENTS:
7 p.m. Thursday, January 20
Rosalie Favell, Curatorial Lecture, Aqua Books, 274 Garry.
7 p.m. Friday, January 21
Exhibition opening, Acting Up! Performing the Indian, PLATFORM: Centre for
Photographic and Digital Arts, 121-100 Arthur Street.
[Lori Blondeau, Shelley Niro, Jackie Traverse, Hulleah J. Tsinhnahjinnie. Also includes
historic representations of Princess White Deer, Pauline Johnson, Molly Spotted Elk
Saturday January 22
Panel Discussions, Winnipeg Art Gallery, 330 Memorial Boulevard
10:30 Candice Hopkins, Mary Anne Barkhouse, Faye HeavyShield, Nadia Myre) 10:30
1:30
Rebecca Belmore, Lee-Ann Martin
EXHIBITION VENUES AND OPENINGS
Thursday, January 20 Nadia Myre: The Forgiveness Project (solo exhibition) La Maison
des artistes visuels francophones, 219 boulevard Provencher.
Friday, January 21 Close Encounters: the Next 500 Years (main exhibition, 109 Pacific
Avenue) Mary Ann Barkhouse, Colleen Cutschall (Oglala Lakota), Fiona Pardington
(Maori), Marie Watts (Seneca)
Close Encounters: the Next 500 Years Plug-In Gallery, 460 Portage Avenue
Rebecca Belmore, Lisa Reihana (Maori), Skawennati Fragnetti (Mohawk)
Close Encounters: the Next 500 Years (Winnipeg Art Gallery)
Maria Theresa Alves (Brazil), Shuvinai Ashoona (Inuit), Faye HeavyShield, Tracey Moffatt
(Australia)
Close Encounters: the Next 500 Years (Manitoba Museum, 190 Rupert Ave.
Rosalie Favell (Metis)
Close Encounters: the Next 500 Years (Manitoba Hydro, Head Office, 360 Portage
Avenue)
KC Adams
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ARTISTS FOR DISCUSSION LEADER / ARTIST TALKS
GROUP A
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Jane Johnson Schoolcraft (Ojibwa, 1800-1842)
Carolina Go-won-go Mohawk (Mohawk, circa 1860-1924)
E. Pauline Johnson (Mohawk, 1861-1913)
Angel De Cora (Ho-chunk, 1871-1919)
Princess Redwing (Ho-chunk, 1883-1974)
Princess White Deer (Mohawk, 1891-1992)
Columbia Eneutseak (Labrador Inuit, 1893-1959)
Molly Spotted Elk (Penobscot, 1903-1977)
GROUP B
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
MAKING A NOISE: BANGING ON DOORS
Jane Ash Poitras (Cree/Metis)
Rebecca Belmore (Ojibwa)
Joanne Cardinal Schubert (Blackfoot)
Candice Hopkins (Tlingit)
Jaune Quick-to-See Smith (Flathead/Shoshone/Cree-Metis)
Lee-Ann Martin (Mohawk)
Nancy Marie Mithlo (Apache
Marie Mumford (Metis)
Spiderwoman Theater
GROUP D
29.
30.
31.
32.
33.
34.
35.
36.
MID-TWENTIETH CENTURY PIONEERS
Maria Campbell (Metis)
Doreen Jensen (Gitskan)
Rosalie Jones (Chippewa)
Kenojuak (Inuit)
Ellen Neel (Kwakwaka’wakw)
Daphne Odjig (Odawa)
Alanis Obomsawin (Abenaki)
Jessie Oonark (Inuit)
Buffy Sainte Marie (Cree)
Maria Tallchief (Osage)
Marion Tuu’luq (Inuit)
GROUP C
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
NINETEENTH – EARLY TWENTIETH CENTURY PIONEERS
MOVERS AND SHAKERS
KC Adams (Metis)
Mary Anne Barkhouse (Kwakwaka’wakw)
Lori Blondeau (Cree/Metis)
Dana Claxton (Lakota)
Marie Clements (Metis)
Hannah Claus (Mohawk)
Ruth Cuthand (Cree)
Thirza Cuthand (Cree)
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37.
38.
39.
40.
41.
42.
43.
44.
45.
46.
47.
48.
49.
50.
51.
52.
53.
54.
55.
56.
57.
58.
59.
60.
NATIVE WOMEN AND THE ARTS
Patricia Deadman (Tuscarora)
Tracey Deer (Mohawk)
Lita Fontaine (Saulteaux/Dakota)
Danis Goulet (Metis)
Carol Greyeyes (Cree)
Rosalie Favell (Metis)
Faye HeavyShield (Blood)
Maria Hupfield (Ojibwa)
Margot Kane (Cree/Saulteaux)
Cheryl L’Hirondelle (Metis)
Sonya Kelliher-Combs (Inupiak/ Athapaskan)
Sandra Laronde (Ojibwa)
Erica Lord (Athapaskan/Yupik/ Japanese/Finnish)
Tanya Lukin Linklater (Alutiq)
Teresa Marshall (Mik’maq)
Monique Mojica (Kuna, Rappahannock)
Nadia Myre (Algonquin)
Marianne Nicholson (Kwakwaka’wakw)
Annie Pootoogook (Inuit)
Skeena Reece (Tsimshian/Gitskan/Cree/Metis)
Santee Smith (Mohawk)
Hulleah Tsinhnahjinnie (Muskogee /Seminole/Dine)
Tania Willard (Metis)
Jolene Yazzie (Dine)
BIBLIOGRAPHY OF RECOMMENDED READINGS AND RESOURCES
THE WOMAN IN NATIVE WOMEN AND THE ARTS
Farrell Racette, Sherry. “This Fierce Love”: Gender, Women and Art Making in Cynthia
Chavez Lamar, Sherry Farrell Racette and Lara Evans eds. Art in Our Lives:
Native Women Artists in Dialogue (Santa Fe: SAR Press, 2010): 27-58.
“I Call Their Names in Resistance”: Writing Aboriginal Women into Canadian Art
History, 1880-1970 in Kristina Huneault and Janet Anderson, eds. Rethinking
Professionalism: Essays on Women and Art in Canada, 1850-1970 (McGillQueens Press, forthcoming 2011).
Gray, Viviane. A Culture of Art: Profiles of Contemporary First Nations Women Artists in
Gail Gutherie Valaskakis, Madeleine Dion Stout and Eric Guimond, eds. Restoring
the Balance: First Nations Women, Community and Culture (University of
Manitoba Press, 2005): 267-282.
NATIVE WOMEN BEHIND THE CAMERA, VIDEO, NEW MEDIA, PHOTOGRAPHY AND FILM
Abbott, Lawrence. Interviews with Loretta Todd, Shelley Niro and Patricia Deadman.
The Canadian Journal of Native Studies XVIII no. 2 (1998): 335-373.
Kalafatic, Carol. Keepers of the Power: Story as Covenant in the Films of Loretta Todd,
Shelley Niro, and Christine Welsh in Kay Armatage ed. Gendering the Nation:
Canadian Women’s Cinema (University of Toronto Press, 1999): 109-136.
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Lippard, Lucy R. Independent Identities in W. Jackson Rushing III, ed. Native American
Art in the Twentieth Century: Makers, Meanings, Histories (London UK:
Routledge, 1999): 134-148.
Ryan, Alan. I Enjoy Being a Mohawk Girl: the Cool and Comic Character of Shelley
Niro’s Photography American Indian Art Magazine (Winter 1994).
Tsinhanahjinnie, Hulleah and Veronica Passalacqua. Our People, Our Land, Our Images:
International Indigenous Photographers (Heyday Books, 2006).
TRADITIONAL ARTS
Farrell Racette, Sherry. Sewing for a Living: the Commodification of Metis Women’s
Artistic Production in Myra Rutherdale and Katie Pickles eds. Contact Zones:
Aboriginal and Settler Women in Canada’s Colonial Past (University of British
Columbia Press, 2005): 17-46.
Fowler, Cynthia. Materiality and Collective Experience: Sewing as Artistic Practice in
Works by Marie Watt, Nadia Myre, and Bonnie Devine, American Indian
Quarterly 34, issue 3 (Summer 2010): 344-364.
Oberholtzer, Cath. Some Thoughts on the Concepts of Creativity and Innovation. Nexus
8 no. 1 (1990): 31-46.
Propitiation, Instruction, Commission: Survival Arts of the James Bay Cree in J.
C. H. King and C F. Feest eds. Three Centuries of Woodlands Indian Art
(Altenstadt, Germany: European Review of Native Studies (ERNAS), 2007): 92102.
EARLY PERFORMANCE, LITERARY AND VISUAL ARTISTS
Carpenter, Cari M. “A Woman to Let Alone: E. Pauline Johnson and the Performance of
Anger” in Seeing Red: Anger, Sentimentality and American Indians (Ohio State
University Press, 2008).
Gere, Anne Ruggles. An Art of Survivance: Angel Decora at Carlisle, American Indian
Quarterly 28 issues 3 / 4 (Summer 2004): 649-685.
Gerson, Carole and Veronica Strong-Boag. Championing the Native: E. Pauline
Johnson Rejects the Squaw in Myra Rutherdale and Katie Pickles eds. Contact
Zones: Aboriginal and Settler Women in Canada’s Colonial Past (University of
British Columbia Press, 2005): 47-66.
Hall, Roger A. Performing the American Frontier, 1870-1906 (Cambridge University
Press, 2001).
Hutchinson, Elizabeth, Modern Native American Art: Angel DeCora’s Transcultural
Aesthetics, The Art Bulletin 83, no. 4 (Dec. 2001): 740-756.
Johnson, E. Pauline. The Iroquois Women of Canada by One of Them, Women of
Canada: Their Life and Work (National Council of Women of Canada, 1901):
440-442.
McBride, Bunny. The Spider and the WASP: Chronicling the Life of Molly Spotted Elk
in Jennifer S. Brown and Elizabeth Vibert eds. Reading Beyond Words: Contexts
for Native History (Broadview Press, 1996 reprint 2003).
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Molly Spotted Elk: a Penobscot in Paris (University of Oklahoma Press, 1999).
Zwick, Jim. Inuit Entertainers in the United States from the Chicago World’s Fair to the
Birth of Hollywood (Infinity Publishing, 2006).
Nicks, Trudy and Ruth Phillips. “From Wigwam to White Lights”: Princess White Deer’s
Indian Acts in J. C. H. King and C F. Feest eds. Three Centuries of Woodlands
Indian Art (Altenstadt, Germany: European Review of Native Studies (ERNAS),
2007): 144-160.
Phillips, Ruth B. Performing the Native Woman: Primitivism and Mimicry in Early
Twentieth Century Visual Culture in Linda Jessup, ed. Antimodernism and Artistic
Experience: Policing the Boundaries of Modernity (University of Toronto Press,
2001): 26-49.
Smith, Andrew Brodie. Shooting Cowboys and Indians: Silent Western Films,
American Culture, and the Birth of Hollywood (University Press of Colorado,
2003).
Unwin, Peter, The Mohawk Princess Beaver Magazine 79 issue 5 (October-November
1999): 15.
MAKING SPACE FOR ART AND PERFORMANCE
Claxton, Dana L. Red Woman White Cube: First Nations Art and Racialized Space. MA
Project, Simon Fraser University, 2007.
Hopkins, Candice. How to Get Indians into an Art Gallery in Lee-Ann Martin, ed. Making
a Noise: Aboriginal Perspectives on Art, Art History, Critical Writing and
Community (The Banff International Curatorial Institute, 2004): 192-205.
Making Things Our Own: the Indigenous Aesthetic in Digital Storytelling.
LEONARDO 39 No. 4 (Summer 2006): 341-344.
Martin, Lee-Ann. The Politics of Inclusion and Exclusion: Contemporary Native Art
and Public Art Museums in Canada (Canada Council of the Arts, 1991).
Indigena: Contemporary Native Perspectives (Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre,
1992).
Wordplay: Issues of Authority and Territory in Lee-Ann Martin, ed. Making a
Noise: Aboriginal Perspectives on Art, Art History, Critical Writing and
Community (The Banff International Curatorial Institute, 2004): 102-107.
McKee, Jesse, In Conversation with the Aboriginal Curatorial Collective: Steve Loft,
Candice Hopkins and Leanne L’Hirondelle, Fuse Magazine 33 no. 2 (Spring
2010): 14-22.
THEATRE AND DANCE
Abbott, Larry. Spiderwoman Theater and the Tapestry of Story. The Canadian Journal
of Native Studies XVI, no. 1 (1996): 165-180.
Darby, Jaye T. Keepers of the Morning Star: an Anthology of Native Women’s Theater
(American Indian Studies Center, 2003).
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Daystar/Rosalie Jones. A View from the Mountain: A Journey Begins in S. E. Wilmer, ed.
Native American Performance and Representation (University of Arizona Press,
2009).
Heth, Charlotte. Native American Dance: Ceremonies and Social Traditions. (National
Museum of the American Indian, 1992).
Livingston, Lili Cockerville. American Indian Ballerinas (University of Oklahoma Press,
1997).
Mojica, Monique. Ethnostress: Women’s Voices in Native American Theater in Shirley A.
Huston-Findley and Rebecca Howard, eds. Footpaths and Bridges: Voices from
the Native American Women Playwrights Archive (University of Michigan Press,
2008).
Murphy, Jacqueline Shea. The People Have Never Stopped Dancing: Native American
Modern Dance History (University of Minnesota Press, 2007).
Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples: Presentation by Marie Mumford, Sandra
Laronde and Elaine Bomberry, Association of Native Development in the
Performing and Visual Arts, Toronto, Ontario, May 25, 1993. Our Legacy,
Indigenous Portal at the University of Saskatchewan
http://scaa.sk.ca/ourlegacy/solr?query=ID:31318&start=0&rows=10&mode
=results
A HEALING PRACTICE
Emerson, Gloria. Art as Healing, Art as Struggle in Cynthia Chavez Lamar, Sherry Farrell
Racette and Lara Evans eds. Art in Our Lives: Native Women Artists in Dialogue
(Santa Fe: SAR Press, 2010): 17-58.
La Flamme, Michelle. Theatrical Medicine: Aboriginal Performance, Ritual and
Commemoration, The Medicine Project, 2008. Grunt Gallery, Vancouver, British
Columbia. http://www.themedicineproject.com/michelle-la-flamme.html,
November 16, 2009.
ON-LINE RESOURCES:
ABORIGINAL ARTS ORGANIZATIONS, COMPANIES AND PROGRAMS
Aboriginal Curatorial Collective http://www.aboriginalcuratorialcollective.org/
The Aboriginal Curatorial Collective is a professional association designed to advance
Indigenous curatorial practice. Their web site resources include online exhibitions,
biographies and an extensive bibliography of curatorial and critical writing on Aboriginal
art.
The Banff Art Centre http://www.banffcentre.ca/aboriginal_arts/programs/#va
The Banff Art Centre functions as a laboratory for collaboration, discussion and creation.
The Aboriginal Arts Program founded by Marie Mumford focuses on dance, voice and
performance. The Visual Arts Program sponsors an annual Aboriginal Arts Residency for
a changing roster of resident artists under the direction of guest curators.
Dancing Earth: Indigenous Contemporary Dance Creations
http://www.dancingearth.org/
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Established in 2004, founder and artistic director, Rulan Tangen is an Alberta Metis
living in Santa Fe New Mexico. The company’s website includes dancer bios, a blog and
photo archive of past performances.
Daystar: Contemporary Dance-Drama of Indian America
http://www.daystardance.com/east2.html
Founded by Rosalie Jones in 1980, Daystar is the oldest contemporary Native dance
company. Most Daystar productions are centered around Rosalie Jones with guest
artists. Daystar is currently associated with the Indigenous Studies program at Trent
University in Ontario.
Grunt Gallery http://www.grunt.ca/
A Vancouver artist-run centre established in 1984, Grunt Gallery has taken a leadership
role in providing space for Aboriginal performance and visual art. Their website
provides links to a number of important documentary projects including: a First Nations
Performance Archive, Brunt Magazine, and The Medicine Project.
Native Earth Performing Arts http://www.nativeearth.ca/en/
Founded in 1982, Native Earth Performing Arts is Canada’s oldest professional Native
theatre. It has launched key works by Monique Mojica, Yvette Nolan, Tomson Highway,
Drew Hayden Taylor and many others.
Red Sky http://www.redskyperformance.com/home
Red Sky is a Toronto based dance company established by Sandra Laronde in 2000. The
company focuses on touring productions.
Sâkêwêwak Artists’ Collective http://www.sakewewak.ca/
The third manifestation of a Regina, Saskatchewan Aboriginal arts organization, founded
in 1991 as Ironbow, later Circle Vision Arts Corporation. Sâkêwêwak reorganized as an
artist run centre in 1993, focusing on professional development, artist residencies,
exhibitions and other activities. The Sâkêwêwak Storytellers Festival is an annual
multidisciplinary festival launched in 2001.
Tribe Inc. a Center for Evolving Aboriginal Media, Visual and Performing Arts
http://www.tribeinc.org/
A Saskatoon artist-run centre established in 1995 emphasizing performance art. Tribe
facilitates collaborations, events and lectures and is closely associated with renowned
performance artist and co-founder Lori Blondeau.
Urban Shaman http://www.urbanshaman.org/us/home.html
Urban Shaman is an artist-run centre in Winnipeg established in 1996 to provide a space
for the exhibition and discussion of contemporary Aboriginal art. The gallery has an
exemplary exhibition history including some of the most innovative and recognized
Indigenous artists in North America.
HISTORIC ART
Splendid Heritage: Treasures of Native American Art http://www.splendidheritage.com/
A private collector created an online museum of his remarkable collection. While many
of the works were created by women, most were worn and used by men. Exceptions
include dolls, dresses, cradle boards. The data base is searchable by region, “tribe” and
object. Background information was written by noted experts in the field.
CONTEMPORARY ART
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Eiteljorg Fellowship for Native American Fine Art
http://fellowship.eiteljorg.org/#theFellowship::Fellowship
In 1999, the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art in Indianapolis,
received a generous endowment to create fellowships to support contemporary Native
arts practice. To date the fellowship has awarded over $500,000 in grants to over 30
artists, including several Canadian women artists such as Dana Claxton, Faith
HeavyShield, Shelley Niro and Nadia Myre.
The web site includes galleries of the art created during the fellowships, artist bios and
podcasts. (Faye HeavyShield 2009, Sonya Kelliher-Combs 2007, Dana Claxton 2007,
Marie Watt 2005, Hulleah J. Tsinhnahjinnie 2003, Kay WalkingStick 2003, Nadia Myre
2003, Nora Naranjo-Morse 2003, Susie Silook 2001, Shelley Niro 2001, Teresa Marshall
2001, Marianne Nicholson 1999, Jaune Quick-to-See Smith 1999)
http://fellowship.eiteljorg.org/#mainGallery::MainGallery
A Time of Visions: Interviews by Larry Abbott. (Pat Deadman, Melanie Printup Hope,
Shelley Niro). http://www.britesites.com/native_artist_interviews/main.htm
ARTIST & CURATOR WEB SITES
K. C. Adams artist website http://www.kcadams.net/
Rebecca Belmore artist web site http://www.rebeccabelmore.com/home.html
Starting from Home: Dana Claxton artist web site http://www.danaclaxton.com
Marie Clements artist web site http://www.marieclements.ca/
The Art of Rosalie Favell, Aboriginal Curatorial Collective (ACC/CCA) web site
http://www.aboriginalcuratorialcollective.org/acc_gallery/favell.html
Erica Lord artist web site http://ericalord.com/home.html
Hulleah J. Tsinhnahjinnie artist website http://www.hulleah.com/
Ikalluk’s Blog (Tanya Lukin Linklater) http://ikalluk.wordpress.com/bio/
Nancy Marie Mithlo: Current musings on the dilemma of contemporary Native American
arts scholarship http://www.nancymariemithlo.com/
Nadia Myre artist web page http://web.me.com/myre/Nadia_Myre/home.html
Shelley Niro artist residency web page, Native American Indigenous Cinema and Arts,
Spring 2008 http://thenaica.org/edition_eight/air/intro.htm
Skeena Reece artist web site http://www.skeenareece.com/
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