The Blood Land Dispute
2022
Video, 10:50 min
Mixed media

Growing up, I was not close to my culture and would eventually form a colonial mentality that developed from several factors that included the lack of Indigenous representation in the media that repeatedly portray harmful and ignorant stereotypes—typically lacking the historical, socio-political context behind these stereotypes. Being raised by my Grandparents, I was always fascinated by documentaries and history because my Grandpa liked watching the history channel with me when I was little. Along with being heavily influenced by alternative subcultures as a teen and growing up watching the news with my Grandparents, I would also develop an interest in political activism. Although I found activism important, I also never really knew the historical details of why things are the way they are, especially for Indigenous people. Returning to school and expanding my knowledge through various courses in academia, I was finally able to understand the impacts of colonialism from an interdisciplinary perspective. I am still learning about decolonization and have used this new influence to help encourage me to indigenize my work—with this piece representing my attempts at decolonizing my mentality by learning about my own community’s history with colonization.
This docu-art piece was inspired by a previous project art project about the St. Mary’s Residential school from my community, the Blood Reserve. Since I had already covered one of the most heartbreaking components of colonial history, I wanted to instead focus on Indigenous empowerment through resistance by researching the Blood Land Dispute of 1980. Due to running out of material for my previous project, I decided to also do a mixed-media collage that I would film parts of the process of me putting it together as B-Roll for the video portion of this project. At the beginning of COVID-19, I had purchased a lot of art supplies (i.e. acrylic paint, paint brushes, mod podge, etc.) to keep me occupied and used most of what I had on hand. The only items really purchased for the sake of this project include a large canvas, Gesso, X-acto knife, printed archives/news articles, and adobe premier. Another important item would be the Canon camera that I haven’t had a chance to really use until this project gave me an excuse to.
By using this class as part of my reconnection journey, I believe it fits well with the themes we’ve covered. Part of my inspiration for choosing a collage piece was being inspired by my relative who I presented on, Natoyihki, and their own politically fueled collage piece. It would also tie directly into our “Creative Acts of Resistance and Survivance” extremely well, as it is both a symbol of continued resistance and Indigenous survivance—with my main quote being “Despite Everything, We Are Still Here.”
An obvious challenge that impacted the entire class would be the strike in the middle of our semester and the time constraints in our second half. I originally wanted to include interviews like I had in my previous project and would have some individuals who were present at the Blockade lined up for an interview, but unfortunately time was not our friend in this case. So having to play catch up with all my classes would result in my video not being completed to my standards in time for presentations, but I am happy I was able to mostly complete the collage itself. Even with these challenges, I still plan to work on this project after I am finished school so that I have a finished product to show my friends and family, and community members who were interested in my project.
When I show people, I want people from my community—especially the younger generations—to feel a sense of pride in our collective history of resistance. An issue that plagues many Indigenous communities is the colonial mentality that I had mentioned in my introduction—which is basically the belief that European cultures are superior to Indigenous cultures. So my hope when they see my work would be that they become more interested in learning about their own history and rather than feel ashamed of their heritage, they feel a sense of belonging and pride. The collage would be something to take your time to look at and see all the different pieces and details, including the array of information on the blockade itself. Ultimately, curiosity about Blackfoot history is what I hope to spark in any one of any age and any background.

My Iiniskim Story
2022
Plywood, tablecloth, photographs

With this project I wanted to share a personal story and give intent and detail on the event that led to the choosing of my Blackfoot name, Iiniskimiakii (Buffalo Stone Woman). Working with my interest in photography, I wanted to capture images that correlated to this story from beginning to end. I was inspired by Jessica Sommers paintings as she uses non-conventional medias to give the audience a chance to engage more in critical thinking. I was more drawn to a painting she performed with intriguing traditional designs in a bear silhouette. This shared her own cultural background as well as a story that can be interpreted. Her work is linked to earthy objects and materials, and I wanted to use that notion to relate to my project. In my illustration, I wanted to use a buffalo silhouette with images in a planned collage that created my story. I was confused with how I would display this project from the beginning, but with the help of my classmates I was given ideas on how I would perform this project. As I was on campus near uhall, I caught a glimpse of the buffalo sculpture displayed on the hill and this gave me new inspiration. I decided to create a sculpture shaped as a buffalo in which I would put my photographs. I then displayed this sculpture in the same area I found the original buffalo stone when I was younger. While in the process of making this project, I was able to learn more about the Buffalo Stone itself, and it gave me a better insight and understanding of how it relates to my Blackfoot traditions and culture. Ultimately, this has made me appreciate and value my Blackfoot name even more.

About Taylor
Oki, niisto niitaniko Iiniskimiakii, my name is Taylor Bastien. My Blackfoot name is Buffalo Stone Woman. I come from the Blood Reserve, and I represent the Many Childrens’ clan. I am currently in my third year attending the University of Lethbridge in obtaining my degree in education. My interest in creative work surrounds the use of photography, beading, and painting. I like to share stories that explore both my personal and cultural experiences in my work to demonstrate my perspective and to give insight towards my Blackfoot culture. To me this is another way to reconnect my identity with my culture and learn more as I continue my projects.

A Study of Elegant Sunburst (Xanthoria Elegans) Lichens by Old Man River, Lethbridge
2022

Lichens are found almost everywhere in Canada, and are composed of two living organisms: fungus and algae. This work entails a variety of process-based material studies based on the bright orange glacial lichens found on rocks all over Alberta, Xanthoria Elegans (or Elegant Sunburst lichen). Focusing on these organisms has acted as a therapeutic meditation for me and has allowed for me to explore and get better acquainted with the coulees of Lethbridge and the natural treasures that lie within them. My main goal in working with such small entities was to gain a further appreciation and familiarity for the natural environment of Lethbridge, and to bring it back into my own work and process.

I have chosen to present my investigation of lichens in a multitude of media to allow myself to learn from many artistic perspectives. The lichens themselves have such intricate patterns and shapes that I often got lost in them, and so I am attempting to replicate this same feeling through artistic methods. I also aimed to experiment with the question: what is the best way to conduct artistic exploration of unfamiliar bodies? I would like my viewers to keep this in mind while looking at this work and seeing that even the smallest organism within our own realm of knowledge is worthy of attention and important to the whole of what we know and experience.

My two-toned Lino Cut series was formed to look at the abundance of lichen spots I have encountered over the past couple of weeks and the small prints, when hung up together, create the same clustered feeling I got while looking at multiple lichen specimens that became housed on the same grey stone surfaces. I have also chosen to look at the videography work of Oglála Lakȟóta artist Suzanne Kite to inspire my documentations of my nature walks as well as my artistic practice on my other studies. Kite’s use of composition and sound in her videography work heavily influenced the way I video taped my outdoor walks and Lino cut process and I've kept these short videos between 2-5 minutes long to ensure plentiful footage to edit later. Although this work is presented in an online gallery, working on all these pieces together has made me curious about how I may take these elements out into the physical world, and how I may marry the elements I have presented here together. Currently I am thinking of printing many more of these prints and overlap them with the wilderness videos and process videos, and perhaps an edited or altered version of these videos, to create a more immersive piece for an in-person gallery set up.

About Mikayla
My practice is in flux as I explore my own mixed-race identity as well as I explore my fascinations with natural specimens, animal forms, the human psyche, music, and myth. I like to mix media in my work and I often work with print making, soft sculpture, painting, drawing, and written work. I also do my best to work with recycled materials, especially hand-me-down materials I’ve collected and inherited from my familial ties. I am a visual arts student at the University of Lethbridge, and I am working towards a Bachelor of Arts and Education combined degree.

Keep the Beat
2022
Video, :20 min

With not having a lot of art experience, I wanted to incorporate something that I am very passionate about which is physical activity and being outside. With being born with a heart murmur, I always had to take it easy when doing physical activity, which was hard when I found a burning passion for playing hockey at a competitive level. Taking it easy was hard: at the age of 15 I was required to get surgery to fix the murmur, as it was getting worse due to the amount of strain, I was putting on my heart due to hockey. After the surgery, I got told that I would no longer be able to play hockey at that level due to a new increase in injury which was due to being on blood thinner. What used to be just a bruise would be a much more serious injury. After being told competitive hockey was no longer an option I went on the hunt to find a new sport or hobby to fill my time and the void that was left. That’s when I got introduced into mountain biking: it was a sport that allowed me to clear my mind while dealing with not being able to play hockey. Biking kept me physically active, allowed me to push myself, and promote good heart health. In this way, I could be more creative and passionate about the work being done, as well as incorporating something about my life: “life has peaks and Valleys which is a challenge we can’t change in life.”
For this project, I used my bike and hockey tape. I specifically used the local mountain biking and hiking trails that I learned to ride on. My main inspiration came from work done by Mississippi Choctaw/Cherokee artist Jeffery Gibson and photographer Nicolas Bruno. When looking at the work by both Jeffery Gibson and Nicholas Bruno, they influenced me to continue using sports in art as I feel like many don’t think art and sports can go together beside a painting or photo of an athlete, and Nicholas Bruno influenced me to give performance art a try, as well as trying to incorporate key aspects in the background. This whole project is a challenge to me as I am not familiar with art and am way out of my comfort place. Finding the creativity within me has been a challenge. Other challenges I have experienced throughout this project have been varied, I was not able to go with my original idea of incorporating the heart in the tires of the bike as It was interfering with the drivetrain and braking of the bike so I had to revert to a different idea, as well as negotiating the weather. With the late winter weather activity, we have had, the trails I would like to use are still very wet, and to prevent unnecessary trail damage, I have had to do a lot of thinking about where else I could go to get this work done.

About Tyler
In the summers I do reside in Calgary where I was born and raised, but, once September comes around, I do move down to Lethbridge as I’m a fourth-year student in Indigenous Studies/Physical Education at The University of Lethbridge. I am a big fan of being outdoors and staying active as it is my way to escape and be one with myself. I spend most of my time now in the Rocky Mountains. In the fall and spring, the coulees are where I spend my time as the mountains are no longer at my doorstep. Whether I am in the mountains or coulees, I spend my time hitting the peaks and valleys of both, but with different scenery and hazards.

This work is meaningful to me personally because it represents the animals I have seen throughout my journeys to and from Lethbridge for a second last time before I graduate. As I may not come back to the place. By recording the moose, deer, coyotes and the occasional fox or sheep, seen on my travels, makes me curious about why I was able to see these animals or have the animals show themselves in a way throughout my travels. No animals are the same when I travel; sometimes I see lots, some very few and some such as elk or sheep I see once in a while. This project represents my relationship and moment with I share with the animals through memory along my journey. As I only see these animals for a moment and then I drive by and not see the same animal as it will be a long time before I travel back that way. With the animals in mind, I have been practicing and experimenting with formline drawing. It is a stricter way to draw compared to the work that I usually do. It allows me to be abstract in the way I represent the animal’s spirituality and representationally. It is a type of drawing I have been interested in and been wanting to try.

I chose a basketball to be my material base because it is a part of my post-secondary education journey, how it all started and decided where I was going to school to be able to play basketball competitively. The change throughout the journey was of the politics of playing varsity sports. It affected me mentally and emotionally because I worked so hard for my spot on the team, but did not get playing time. So, this is a surface and an item I can connect with throughout 11 years of my life and I still play today because I love playing basketball. It is a unique surface within itself as it's used to play and gets worn out. A surface that becomes one with you as you move along the court. The basketballs at I have acquired are ones that were from the school I did my last practicum at and a school where I have played basketball. The school has given me the experience of what it is like to be a coach and to coach a team full of girls who want to learn to play. Other materials include pens or sharpies to apply the drawing on the basketball. Black sharpie because it will give me nice crisp line. A variety of different sizes to apply a thicker one to show the lines I bit better and to show the change in width and depth of the lines I will be using for drawing.
It relates to the course through the connection to the land, throughout the dribbling the ball and my origin story about my love for animals in general, how moose, deer, and trout have fed my family throughout my whole life. The adventure, the hunt and the journey to these animals and the land feeds the spirit of the soul. It gives way into the relationship building Focus will be on the wild animals because they are ones, I do not see every day and are curious about their habits and travels, but all the spirit that is held within them. It is my story and how it came to be to share. As I feel at home when I see animals.

Challenge was learning form line and will be to get good crisp lines throughout my drawing. As well to flow nicely together and not tacked in or pushed into place when it is not working together. Reaching out to an artist who works in formline; which is the center of her art practice, and receiving feedback has been beneficial for my practice of the formline design as a beginner in formline design.

Are you allowed to play with the basketball? Do you think the basketball should still be played with? What other journey would make sense within the connections to the land and to self? In what other ways do you think the basketball can connect to the land? What activities do you use to connect to the land?

About Sydney
I am from the center of British Columbia, a Gitxsan feather drifting four hours from my community roots. I am from the small mountain seen by all, traveling the roads near and far. I currently reside in the land of the Nak’azdli Whut’en. I am learning from the land, through fishing for trout and hunting large game- bears, deer and moose- providing food and respect. I have been surrounded by animals throughout my lifetime, large and small, and creating a caring, respectful and loving environment for all animals is coming into my grasp. This is the influence that drives my passion and connection to animals. I am from the earth through growth and food, where feeling the dirt through your hands was how you learnt. Watching the animals live off the land and crossing paths with them throughout life and our journeys on the land. To show you we all live in harmony through time as we know it, on different paths and journeys, to fulfill our lives as they are theirs.

Breaking Point
2022
38in by 48in Canvas, acrylic paint

I walk a path worn down to mud,
I feel the stream but the water is still.
Somber cries ring out in my ears,
they are calling me forward.
My hands are shaking, it feels like I'm choking.
The ground is burning around me
but my screams fall on deaf ears.
The horizon use to be a trip
but is now a journey.
Waves of the melancholic ocean consume me,
and wash me back to shore
where I started.

This piece is based on my reaction to not only this semester but this year. moving twice and the strike have been hard for me, this painting is a visual on how I feel on the inside, being pushed to my limits of anxiety, stress, and depression. I wanted to create melancholic chaos that the viewer can feel and experience. the conceptual process was very therapeutic to me and I enjoyed the time I had making this. The piece is a reference to comic book style, a hulk-like symbol of frustration until the point of breaking, comic books tend to have very animated figures to express their emotions and little text in comics. This piece is a part of my series of "Emotion" pieces, becoming a person and being about to cope with emotions is difficult to express and instead I suffer in silence. My artwork reflects pure passion, an embodiment of feeling, something I have troubles conveying one on one.

About Timberly
Timberly Pace Good Striker, age 24, was born and raised in Lethbridge Ab, From the Northern Piikani Nation. She was raised with a traditional home with spiritual values which translated through her art in a modern spin. a self taught artist she mainly works with paints, drawing material, and design tattoos. Timberly's artwork reflects a social, environmental, and political issues that directly affect indigenous communities.

Loss Due to the Residential School System
2022

I chose to make a sculpture out of Plasticine. I wanted to represent the emotional impact on parents of having their child(ren) taken from them due to the residential schools. To represent the pain of loss this void left in their hearts. As I am a parent myself, I can only imagine the pain, loss, and devastation that these parents and families are experiencing. The sculpture depicts a heart shape as two parents embrace each other for comfort. The child shaped hole in the center represents this loss. The small desk with an apple on it and the chair with a child sitting in it, represents the missing child that is attending school and is meant to bring context as to what this sculpture is about.
I was originally inspired by artist Jack Harman who created a smooth bronze sculpture of a family outside of the Royal British Columbia Museum in my home town of Victoria B.C. which I remember seeing as a child. The sculpture is of a man and a woman holding a child.
My sculpture is meaningful to me because I am a parent and I am greatly disturbed by the residential schools and how the government and churches carried out a mandate to force Indigenous children to leave their parents, families, and culture to be raised away from home. Stolen basically. Not allowed to continue their culture. Most of the children were not treated in a loving way and had horrible things happen and done to them. A lot of them never made it home again. I want to draw attention to this devastation.

I chose sculpture in order to challenge myself as I do not have much experience working with this medium. A challenge I had during the creation of this project is to add context in a way that lets my viewers know that this sculpture is about residential schools. I decided to do this by adding a child sitting at a desk with an apple, hoping to create a school-like setting.

My project relates to the theme of the destruction that colonization has had on Indigenous people. Robbing them of their culture and essentially their voice. Forcing them to become something else to fit into the white man’s mold. I want my viewers to be able to sense the emotions of pain and loss and hopefully have compassion and empathy. Questioning what it would be like if it happened to them personally.

About Raija
I am from oceans and tall trees, fresh air and nature, beauty and family. Victoria, B.C. is my home town. I moved to Lethbridge, A.B. eleven years ago with my husband and three children. It was hard to leave family and friends and start a new life in a foreign place. I found this loss to be an emotional bridge to creativity and inspire me for some of my art work. I am from hope and trust in a power larger than myself even when things are out of my control. I am learning to strip myself of things I do not know or understand. I took a huge step by going back to school as a mature student not sure if I would be able to do it, and all the uncertainty that it brings. But knowing that I wanted to pursue the study of art and find a voice through painting, was the driving force behind my decision. I am currently in the B.F.A program at the University of Lethbridge and will be entering third year in the fall of 2022. I am learning to let go and trust my creative self. I get a lot of my inspiration from relationships and family. The strong emotions of love and loss seem to be the core inspiration for my artwork. I would encourage other people of any age who are contemplating taking a big step to pursue their passion, to go for it!

In art making, my challenge has been to produce an artwork I would feel confident to consider completed. I believe that through their work, the voices of artists continue resonating in posterity. I am afraid of failing to produce something not worthy of this privilege. For my final project I followed the guidance of my teacher who inspired me to leave my comfort zones and explore my natural landscape so to incorporate my art making from a novel setting. I am grateful, this experience has moved me to feel freer and humbled by the natural beauty of our U of L campus and Southern Alberta landscape surroundings.

About Francisco
Francisco Luna is from Mexico City, Mexico. He completed a BA in Fine Arts and in Philosophy at the University of Lethbridge, Alberta, in 2019. Currently he is pursing a BE in Art Education at the University of Lethbridge. In his artistic practice Francisco reflects about ideas of Ethics and Aesthetics, he continues developing ongoing painting, sculpture, drawing, and text projects. For art making and introspection, Francisco believes in endeavouring to mature in imagination and innovation. Francisco works mainly with oil painting, this material represents for him a discipline for first-hand appreciation of gesture, colour and texture. Through oil painting Francisco has found self-reflection and self-discovery. He believes that art making is a life’s treasure that is yet to be clarified.

My project this year was inspired by a drawing. It was also inspired by beautiful ribbon skirts made by my cousin, Alannah. The drawing I had made was inspired by the subject of MMIWG, Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women and Girls. Specific details in the earrings and skirt corelate with the subject; the earrings are done in a teardrop shape to represent the Highway of Tears. This is a name for the stretch of Highway 16 in British Columbia, and the towns along it, where many Indigenous women and girls have gone missing and have been murdered. MMIWG is an issue that continues to happen and has not been resolved despite pleas by Indigenous people and allies. This topic and project are meaningful to me because I have had my own family and friends affected by this problem. I hope people that see this think about this ongoing issue whether it is their first time learning about it or they already know about it, and are reminded that MMIWG is still a huge problem.
A challenge I faced was deciding what cultural teachings to share and how to share them. What I was able to share was very little of the full representations, but I wanted to be able to share some key details without making it too complex for those that do not know or understand the culture. [excellent statements here! I have moved it to be beside the details of the work.] In the center of the earrings, I have incorporated a bear paw because in my culture part of the teachings of the Bear Clan is that they are the guardians and protectors. The colour black is also connected to the representation of bears, death, and is used in certain ways of protection. As for the ribbons on the skirt, they were left long to represent “loose ends,” which is my way of representing an ongoing issue.

About Cheyenne
I was born in Lloydminster, AB/SK but have spent a lot of time moving around the two provinces. My background is Irish and Saulteaux and am a member of Cowessess First Nation. I now live in Lethbridge where I attend University. I am in my second year of my bachelor's degree, studying Psychology and Indigenous Studies. My love of art started at an early age with many influences from family members. A lot of my art has taken the form of drawings and paintings, but I have been learning traditional forms of art over recent years. This semester gave me the chance to practice my beading skills and also to gain experience making a ribbon skirt.

The Flourishing Woman
2022

For this project, I decided to base it off of my first project (Origin story). I really enjoyed this project and I wanted to create something more meaningful out of it. I wanted to create this project with something that I consider myself very passionate about, makeup. I love the idea of using a face as a canvas and completely reinventing the idea of beauty. I was originally going to do this on my own face to represent my growth, but I thought I could save myself some time.
The Flourishing Woman represents me and my growth in this world. I consider myself a very independent person- although I never used to be. I used to lean on others in order to provide happiness for myself. In the past, I never really understood the Idea of the TRUE meaning of self-care. I always made sure my schedule was full, therefore I had no time for myself except for sleep. I began to burn myself out and this ended up burning bridges with my friends and family. Around this time last year, I would hide in my room and sleep all day, I had no care in the world. I went from one extreme to another- which was not good for my mental health. Although, I do think I needed to go through this episode in order to realize what I should be grateful for and to gain respect for myself and others. Although I am still learning, I like to think I have a decent grasp on my independent life along with my social life. I now find happiness within myself and my achievements in life. I am like a tree, I still have lots of time to grow. And every now and then a branch falls off, but a new one grows.

About McKenzie
My name is McKenzie Olmstead, I am 19 years old, I live in a small town in Alberta, and I am In University for my Bachelor of Education/Art. I have always been very interested in art, but only as a hobby. I really started to enjoy my love of Art throughout high school when I took extra credit courses (Art 10,20,30). I feel like my first year of schooling has really helped me out of my so-called ‘creative shell’. I have done many different projects that at first, I would’ve never considered art in the first place. This is very interesting to me because beforehand I had such a broad spectrum of the Idea about Art.

Knowledge of Books
2022

For my final project, I wanted to carry on for what I did for my second assignment which I took a dictionary and turned it into a representation for Education that took a look back on the Residential Schools.

I have turned two old books that have not been used for a long time and upcycled them. With the first book, I took an Issue that has been looked over for a long time: MMIW. Indigenous women who have been murdered or are missing in Canada are unknown, and where Indigenous women are 4.5 times more likely to be murdered than non-Indigenous women. With this book, I painted and drew different images with writing and information about MMIW. On the front cover of the book, I put a jingle dress dancer to represent the healing that needs to be done for the women who have been missing.

With the second book, I chose to represent the place where I come from, the Blackfoot territory, drawing Blackfoot symbols that come from my family. With the Blackfoot back, I wanted to spread some knowledge about the Blackfoot people and where I come from.

Shifting Form - Collaboration and Expression of Self
2022
This project is an ongoing initiative I have been working on for the past year. I’ve always held an interest in expression of self in the clothing we wear, and what symbols, colours, and phrases we gravitate to and why. Modifying clothing especially jean jackets certainty isn’t a new practice, yet for myself it’s a way to express and select smaller samples of other artist’s work. Patches are small, versatile, and more affordable then prints or other work which is unfortunately difficult to display within a rental space. The jacket is a Levi's Trucker Jacket and each patch was chosen and placed in a way that would balance texture and tone. Personal modifications are the beginning process of embroidering personally important song lyrics to the sleeves using split stich and embroidery thread. My future plans are to embroider beaded edges on the collar and pockets, and hopefully doing a beaded patch to applique on the back.

About Emily
Born in Calgary, Alberta Emily McNeill currently resides in Lethbridge, Alberta the city of blustering wind and sprawling hills. Sixth generation Metis she is currently work towards learning and reclaiming her cultural identity. Emily enjoys exploring emotional vulnerability, symbolism, and the human and animal form in her work. Drawing from the variability of life, and the beauty in emotional complexity and longing, she finds inspiration in her experiences, the space around her, people, and at times the fluid expression of dreams. Her practice utilizes a variety of materials, and often plays with textures, tones, and colour through the various media she draws on. Sculpture tends to be a central focus of her work as the movement and weight of the physical is something Emily find both challenging and intriguing to tack in her work. Two of her previous pieces, Reflection and Joy, won first place in their respective categories at the Calgary Stampede Art show, with another work, Guardian placing second. Currently pursuing a combined degree in Indigenous Studies and Indigenous Education at the University of Lethbridge, Emily continues to experiment and expand her artistic practice.

For my final project I chose to create a project that included materials from my previous works like my moccasins, and rocks.

About Kyrell
Okii I am from Piikani reserve, where there are friends, family, and cousins all around. From the grassy hills to rocky mountains and back again. I am a Blackfoot Native and I say it proud, my moccs are black and my skin is brown. I honor those have passed on and give strength to those who struggle with bad health, addictions, and other problems that are left unsound.