When I clicked on the website I noticed the green specks begin to pop up on my screen. It is a map of all  the reserves across Canada. I restart it a couple times, just so I could watch it load again, one by one. The end result is the image below. My reserve is on there too. Go to BC, go half way up the province, just slightly west of Prince George, and there you will find my home called Stellaquo.

Map of Canada’s  3063 reserve locations

Kevin Lee Burton is from the community of God’s Lake Narrows. The image above shows 3063 reserves in Canada, and with the name “reserves” comes the negative narrative attached to them. Canada’s reserve housing is in dire crisis. Indigenous peoples live in housing that has been described as worse than third world conditions, some with no running water or sewage systems. Sadly this is true, images have been plastered over the media time and time again showing the reserve houses, Kevin calls  “reserve aesthetic”.  As an “Indian” ( “Indian” under the Indian Act of 1876, in which the government holds land in trust for the Indians, called reserves) I can use my powers and sense when I am on a reserve. Okay, maybe not my powers, but with my eyes, I recognize a reserve house when I see one and this “reserve aesthetic” can be seen across Canada.

A house in God’s Lake Narrows

But, what the average Canadian doesn’t see when they drive through the “rez”, is the inside of the house. Burton is opening the door and letting visitors for the first time. Stephan Foster describes the use of the interactive media and it’s ability as such,  “The capabilities of new technologies to create opportunities for documentary as an art form to re-evaluate its aesthetic conventions and utilize more experimental approaches to narrative opens the door to other cultural approaches to narrative structures and inclusivity.” Burton demonstrates this balance perfectly and the photos used says a lot about our welcome into their homes. These are powerful images, yes we are in the houses, but we don’t get see everything in the house. We are limited in our experience, but still involved in the experience. As you the view images of his community, Burton has a sound track of casual conversation playing. An assortment of conversations that consist of bingo numbers being called out, a broad cast of announcements on a radio and music in the background. Foster says this use of the media gives access and establishes a relationship, “This relationship allows him to create an intimate and more fully rounded portrait of the community from an insider’s perspective. It also allows for greater inclusivity, even though the narration essentially is a first-person POV of the community.”

Inside a woman’s home in God’s Lake Narrows

This is just a glimpse of God’s Lake Narrows, I really enjoyed sharing in this experience. I have to admit it made me miss home. Listening to the snow crunch, brought me back to my childhood memories of being home in the winter at Stellaquo. My reserve is right off of Highway 16 in Northern BC and we have traffic pass through it day and night. I wonder what they think of my reserve as they speed by it on the highway? Maybe they should be looking beyond the houses and look at the landscape.

I agree with Burton when he says, “Its time to repaint the picture”. When I think of Stellaquo, I think of the people there and the landscape. We are connected to the land, our name Stellaquo means “people of the cape”, our name says it all, we come from the land. So I will join Burton and add my own narrative of my home, my reserve and I will just leave it at that.

Crossing the bridge through Stellaquo on Highway 16. Louisville in sight.

Stellaquo, BC

The traditional territory of Stellaquo, BC

Musi to David Luggi of Stellakoh Photography for the use of his photos of Beautiful Stellaquo, British Columbia.

Images of God’s Lake Narrows were screen shots from the National Film Board of Canada website: taken Dec. 10 2015

www.godslake.nfb.ca

Stephen Foster, “Documentative”, in Coded Territories – Tracing Indigenous Pathways in New Media Art, University of Calgary Press. 2014

Mission Reserve 1886

Ashes on the Water transports you back in time to the ‘Great Fire of 1886’.  Written by Quelemia Sparrow co produced by Raven Spirit Dance, you become a participant and experience this podplay in the first person experience.  You begin at the old site of the St. James Church  and make your way down to beach front at Crab tree park. The podplay leads you step by step in the footsteps of a mother and her baby, as she is desperately trying to escape the fire. This first person narrative heightens your experience because you are led by a voice, engulfed in sounds, you use your sight and body movement during the podplay. Like Indigenous storytelling, you become a part of the story and like McLuhan has stated, ” These forms give us instant access to all pasts”. (Mediacosmology p.171)

Through the narrative of a settler and Indigenous woman, the participant becomes involved in this fire. A fire that destroyed early Vancouver quickly is was consumed by the flames at rapid speed, that left three thousand homeless and other their lives were lost (The Great Vancouver Fire of 1886). You begin to get a sense of the danger of the fire when you hear the woman’s desperation and the baby crying as she is running for her life. The use of the narrative storytelling with the sound effects and experiencing the movement was unlike anything I had experienced before. Thankfully I did my podplay in the daytime as I could imagine at night my senses would be heightened.

This use of technology lets the participant become involved, by feeling emotions, moving physically and imagining the danger that is following behind them. All of these elements make the participant connected and they become interconnected with one another. Steven Loft describes interconnectedness as a key principle underpinning our cosmological understanding of life (Mediacosmology p.177). The fact  that the podplay can be accessed through newer technology forms ( the internet, podplay format, mp3) crosses boundaries that Loft calls artists such as Sparrow “cyber warriors” (Mediacosmology p.182).  This form of Indigenous storytelling not only relates to oral storytelling but it connects the participant back to the land. Indigenous peoples have strong stories and shared histories to their traditional lands and it is clearly demonstrated in this podplay. As Sparrow incorporates the ‘women paddle song’ she is honouring the history, the people who sing it and the power it has. Sparrow is also honouring those who took action and went to help those in the fire on that June day.  She is permanently making a record within the participant and now they will know the story and the history of that day. At the end of your journey you stand on the beach and you look across the water, and you can see in the distance those canoes coming, the power of the song, the sound of the ocean and the wind in your face….  the ancestors are coming to you. It is powerful! Loft says, “Projects such as […] (Ashes On the Water) constitute a contemporary manifestation of a centuries-old customary practice and cosmological integrity. I would have to agree, this was done in that way but with Indigenous cosmological integrity that the ancestors are proud of.

http://www.globalbirdphotos.com/ve/072_075_Great_Vancouver_Fire_of_1886_Jacqui_Underwood.pdf

Image- Mission Reserve

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Squamish_people#/media/File:Mission_Reserve_opposite_Vancouver,_circa_1886.jpg

Click to play and read the blog. Musi

The work of the artists on the art web speaks of many wounds and the deep sufferings by our brothers & sisters. Brothers and sisters as described as living an urban street life. All of these works are connected by the web of a spider, you can select an image to follow the web. I found that it is easy to get lost in the web, like a real web you can get tangled in it. I began to look for a story that was not so dark and painful, but I could not find one. They made me feel uncomfortable and disturbed. Images of the Balmoral and the stories of women with their john’s reminded me of our missing and murdered women in Vancouver historic downtown eastside (DTES). It painted the image of the DTES that I knew had always existed.

I grew up in east Vancouver and the DTES was a place we always avoided. It’s not like the DTES you see now with it’s gentrification and new cheaper designer drugs. It was a place you did not go to when I was a kid. My friends and I all knew what happened to people that ended up in skid row, they never came back. So as I was taking this journey with the spider, I was brought back to my childhood and the place I never went to came to me in full imagination and I was a part of the narrative. You get a sense of the pain and I guess in a way, some kind of an understanding of the drug of choice. The one that got me was “Missy Girl” by Lynn Acoose http://www.spiderlanguage.net/missygirl.html

This narrative transported me to the DTES and I could vividly see the images of Aboriginal women making their living on the streets for their next fix. Lynn’s words are descriptive and haunting, she uses words such as medicine, emotional poison, transformation, society and prayers. She is able to reflect words of Aboriginal culture to street life. Life that resembles surviving on the DTES. I feel the heartache in her words and it makes me sad. I am sad because I lost good friends to the DTES over my lifetime. Even though we all knew what happened in skid row, they still went there and they didn’t come back. Lynn’s words describe the journey that one takes….one I will never understand. I miss my friends. They were beautiful, strong & fierce ladies that had my back. I am grateful they were there for me during my first few years in Vancouver. At that time I don’t think I would have survived growing up in East Vancouver, it was pretty rough in those days. So here I am today and I know it’s because of them, this web of art connects me to it, but most of all, it connected them to me. With that I want to say to my friends, my sisters and thank you and I love you. I dedicate this beautiful song to you my friends, my sisters; Peggy, Simone, Heather, Miranda & Sherri.

YouTube Video. Shared. Nov.01.2015 8:25pm

Strong Woman Song by Raven Hart-Bellecourt and Lisa Muswagon.

Raven Hart-Bellecourt describes the songs origins on her YouTube account: Thanks for sharing, there are no words for this song. It is a healing song for women. The song was made in Kingston which is a maximum security prison to help the women regain their strength as a women and reclaim their sense of spirituality and healing. I am happy that you are listening to my songs, they are here for all of you to learn, MIIGWITCH!!!! EKOSI!!!!

Medium is the Massage

“The medium, or process, of our time-electric technology- is reshaping and restructuring patterns of social interdependence and every aspect of our personal life. It is forcing us to reconsider and reevaluate practically every thought, every action, and every institution formerly taken for granted. Everything is changing-you, your family, your neighborhood, your education, your job, your government, your relationship to “the others”. And they’re changing dramatically.”

Marshall McLuhan – The Medium is The Massage P.8

This passage speaks volumes considering that it was written in 1967. McLuhan was definitely ahead of his time and it translates the way technology affects us currently in the year 2015. Everyday there is evolution in technology but the one that directly affects me would be the social media of Facebook.

I remember a time (not that long ago in human years, but in technology years, it was like forever ago) Facebook was being used as a social site for connecting with family & friends. Slowly over time the way people used Facebook began to change when people came to realize the power of the social site that could be used to transfer knowledge in a fast convenient way. Information sharing was the new post and this was done in a variety of ways, through facts, images, warnings and hot links to more helpful websites. Don’t get me wrong Facebook is still used a social site but it depends on your social network of friends and of course their interests. I can only share what my wall looks like, and every day it is becoming more political.

I began to take notice, the changes on my newsfeed wall when the movement of “Idle No More” was taking malls by surprise. Flash mobs were recorded across Turtle Island and it was empowering to witness it through my social media. My friends were organizing and taking the holiday by storm, forcing Canadians to stop and think about Indigenous matters. Images streamed across my newsfeed and I began to become more aware of the issues at large that were affecting Indigenous peoples and fellow Canadians. This made me stop, and think and I had to decide what was my part was in all of this and how I was going to participate. It happened so fast and it was overwhelming and inspiring at the same time. I was involved and aware of the issues even if I didn’t want to be a part of it. There was no avoiding it and it was everywhere, media, social media, my community and even in my school. The Idle no more movement became a revolution so quickly simply because of cellphones. The cellphone was able to capture the raw footage and share it with the world.

I now cannot pretend I am not aware of the many issues we face daily as Indigenous peoples, MMIW, Enbridge, funding cuts, protests, court rulings and currently the biggest issue is the up coming election. I simply cannot glance over my newsfeed without thinking of the environment, my children’s future or pretend the daily news of missing women across Canada do not affect me, it does. I am fully aware and because of the way my social media is used by my network of friends, I also have to decide how I am going to participate in this virtual world. But I must remember it is a virtual world….I can simply turn it off and go outside. I can participate in the real world and I still use my cell phone to share it with my social network if I chose to.

McLuhan predicted it on the nose, the new technology was going to change everything dramatically and it has…but it makes you wonder how much more it can change our future…..it won’t be too long before we find that out because we now know how fast technology can change our lives.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/duncan-mccue-the-cultural-importance-of-idle-no-more-1.1314572

Through beadwork

I am connecting to my ancestors, the act of beading brings medicine to my soul.

I travel through space and time. I feel the love among those who were on earth before me. Decolonizing one bead at a time.

Musi Creator