In recognition to the tragic history of Canada’s Indian Residential Schools and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, on September 17th I attended the Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery’s exhibit, “WITNESSES” and the Museum of Anthropology’s (MOA) exhibit, “Speaking to Memory: Images and Voices from St. Michael’s Residential School.” Both exhibits delivered the same issue; the upsetting reality of the displacement of First Nations children from their families by Indian Residential Schools where they were assimilated into the Euro-Canadian identity, abandoning their Aboriginal culture. Children experienced physical and sexual abuse at these residential schools as well.
My high school, compared to other schools, had always emphasized and valued the First Nations culture and traditions. We had classes specified for our Aboriginal students, our school was furnished with totem poles, and our school logo had recently been updated with a First Nation’s artwork touch. However quite frankly, although I often questioned the emphasis, I never put the effort to actually understand or learn the culture and its history. And as a result, I had a false perspective of the First Nations people at my school.
My overall impression when leaving the Belkin Gallery and the MOA was ‘hopeful’. Trying to think of why I felt this, I reflected on what I saw at the galleries, and it then came to my conscious that what I had seen were all life narratives; all pieces that voiced the artist’s past personal experiences and their current impacts from the Indian Residential Schools. The power of life narratives affected me in such a way as if actually knew these artists as well as receiving insight of their situation and what I felt from their artwork as hope for a peaceful future for Aboriginals.
Much of the stories I picked up from the artworks were none of what I had even heard of during any of my First Nation studies I acquired from school. Life narratives capture personal insight on what had happened to the a sole member of society and at times can reveal stories of what may have been concealed from society. In addition, with the poor documentation of the residential schools, these life narratives play a vital role in uncovering the reality of the history. I realized how valuable these pieces were, considering that much of the reality had been silenced and unknown to the public until now.
A particular art piece that reflected this is the series of paintings by Gina Laing. It illustrated her experience being sexually assaulted by supervisors at the Residential Schools in the form of her drawings. I found this the most distressing artwork in the gallery, perhaps because it was so graphic and described so vividly. If it were not for her to publicize her experience, myself and the rest of the community would have never known the fear and the gruesome reality that victims of the residential schools had faced, and help in the healing process of the traumatic experience.
Today, I can say that my visit to the two galleries has changed my outlook on the Aboriginal culture. Now with my better knowledge of the history, I am able to rethink the social problems that are prevalent today, such as the disparities between Aboriginals and non-Aboriginals since I am now aware of the potential sources of these problems. The exposure of new unknown information through life narratives also display that we should be aware that everyday we live lacking details and certain truths from what we learn through news and mass media. This proves the frequent need for reconciliation; to bring back and take the time to draw attention to overlooked details and mistakes made in the past and reflect on them to be aware of the decisions made in the future.