TREATIES, TERRITORY, AND THE TORONTO BIENNIAL

Breaking the Glass Case | Alexandra Forand

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Have you seen advertisements for the Toronto Biennial of Art ? Have you been to a talk, exhibition, or performance that is connected with the Toronto Biennial of Art? Or are you asking, like I was, “What is the Toronto Biennial?!” According to their website, the Toronto Biennial of Art is an international contemporary visual art event which runs from September 21- December 1, 2019. During this time, there are exhibition, talks, and performances that reflect the local context and engage the most pressing issues of the time.

Toronto, where water, land, and city meet  (source.)

This event includes more than 90+ artists and covers most of the city of Toronto, as expressed in the official Land Acknowledgment:

The Toronto Biennial of Art acknowledges the land upon which our event takes place, in multiple venues across the city, stretching from the Small Arms Inspection Building in Mississauga in the West, to the Port Lands in the East; and from Harbourfront Centre in the South, to the Art Gallery of York University in the North.

It is evident through the Land Acknowledgement and the events that at the heart of the Toronto Biennial is land, namely who belongs on the land. The exhibitions, talks, and installations illustrate and annunciate the significance of the waterfront region and the multifaceted history of Toronto. The Toronto Biennial tries to answer the question: “What does it mean to be in relation?” A question we’ve been trying to answer since time immemorial. 

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Re-gram via @nowtoronto #TObiennial19 • Artist AA Bronson’s great-grandfather was an Anglican missionary from England who worked to colonize Siksika Nation, the territorial home where fellow artist Adrian Stimson lives in Alberta. The two have since made dual works that are debuting at the @torontobiennial, bringing a personal dimensions to the concept of reconciliation. Read our full cover story via the link in the bio. 📸 @samuelengelking #canadianart #indigenousart #contemporaryart

A post shared by Toronto Biennial of Art (@torontobiennial) on Oct 1, 2019 at 10:25am PDT

I have mentioned before that I am not a true Torontonian. In fact, I was born, grew up and left Saskatoon, Saskatchewan to come to Toronto. Unsurprisingly, Saskatoon is extremely different than Toronto. Saskatoon is much colder in the winter, we have a significantly smaller population, and the land is flat. Really flat. Speaking of land, another big difference is that Saskatoon falls into treaty 6 territory. The province of Saskatchewan is actually covered by treaty 4 and treaty 6 in the South and treaty 5 and treaty 8 in the North. While four treaties might seem like a lot, Ontario is covered in more than 40 treaties.

Saskatoon, where water, land, and city meet (source.)

Let me take a moment a explain what is a treaty. A Treaty is legal agreement that set out the rights and responsibilities. In Canadian history, we are usually taught treaties are made between Indigenous nations and the provincial and federal government, but this isn’t altogether true. There is a long history of treaties being made between Indigenous groups. For instance,Have you ever heard Southern Ontario be referred to as “Dish (or bowl) with one spoon territory”? This concept of “Dish With One Spoon territory,” is a treaty between the Anishinaabe, Mississaugas and Haudenosaunee that bounds groups and individuals alike to share and protect the land. The big idea is that we all eat out of the same dish, we need to ensure it is never empty and there is enough for future generations, which includes all creatures. Each wave of newcomers have been invited and tasked with upholding the values of this treaty. The Dish with one Spoon Treaty, wasn’t created in one go, instead it was seen as an agreement that was tested, relearned, and evolved over time.

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Tonight we delved into the history and meaning of wampum traditions here on turtle island with Brian Charles of Georgina Island! We are armed with so much important knowledge about treaties and the stories behind them. So much of these original agreements get obscured and what should be common knowledge often isn’t. So we thank Brian for doing the leg work and being willing to share his life’s work with us ❤️ #osot #ourstoriesourtruths #briancharles #wampum #wampumbelt #quahog #treaty #blackashbaskets #settlercolonialism #treaties #agreements #peace #anishinaabe #haudenosaunee #mikmaq

A post shared by Our Stories Our Truths (@ourstoriesourtruths) on Dec 3, 2018 at 8:17pm PST

The Toronto Biennial is a collaborative effort to try and better understand the indigenous context, including the deeper narrative and underrepresented histories of the land of Toronto. So, do you plan or have been to an event connected to the Toronto Biennial of Art? Let me know! As always, you can leave a comment, send me an email (allyforand@gmail.com), or if Twitter and Instagram are more your speed my handle on both is @Ally_but_online.

FINDERS KEEPERS?: WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU FIND AN ARTIFACT BY CHANCE

Breaking the Glass Case | Alexandra Forand 

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Imagine, you are outside walking on a beautiful sun-shining day and you catch a glint of light in your peripheral vision. You take a closer look and you see it’s a quartz arrowhead! You pick it up, it is blue grey in color and about the size of your palm. The tip is chipped off. Perhaps the hunter who knapped this arrow head did this accidently and discarded it. Your first thought is probably, “this should be in a museum!” But… is that the right instinct? This exact scenario happened to my friend Kirsten, who works in and around different lakes in Saskatchewan. While on the job, Kirsten regularly finds amazing treasures, such as fossils, bones, and cultural heritage items. This is no surprise since lakes and rivers have been the heart of social interactions for Prairie peoples. Kirsten has built herself a collection made up of artifacts and pictures of specimens she has left behind.

The arrowhead that started it all. Photo curtesy of Kirsten Sepos. 

This scenario is actually quite common in rural areas, like the Prairie provinces. Chances of finding heritage items (arrow heads, medicines wheels, spear points, stone axes, hammerstones and tipi rings) are quiet high. This is because the Prairie provinces were (and still are) significant places for Indigenous communities to live, hunt, trade, and celebrate for nearly 400 generations! So it is no surprise that Indigenous material culture is densely deposited across the land.

Today, farmers, fishers, conservation officers, gardeners, and people enjoying nature find these remnants of ancient (and sometimes modern) Indigenous communities. So the question remains: what do you do when you find these objects?

Bodies of water, such as Lake Diefenbaker, were and are significant meeting areas in Saskatchewan (source.)

The province of Alberta is taking steps to answer this question. One of the first things they recommend is reporting the spot you found the artifact on the Alberta culture website. Here, they ask you to include a digital photograph, a location, your personal information (phone number, email, address, etc), and a description and circumstance of how you came across the artifact. After you submit this information, an Archeological Information Coordinator will confirm this is a new archeological site, which will be entered into the Archeological Site Inventory database.


While I was writing this piece, I came across an instance where construction of a road was being halted because of the uncovered Indigenous objects. Jim Gilroy, the farmer whose land the construction was taking place on, contacted the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations (FSIN) and together they signed a memorandum of understand which signified the groups commitment to protecting the land. Both parties hope the land will be designated as a heritage site and see this partnership as an act of reconciliation.

It is not uncommon for farmers to have an extensive collection of artifacts which have been collected over the years (source.)

But that does not answer the question at hand. Let us return to Kirsten, her arrow head, and what she should do. In Saskatchewan the protocol is much less clear. If you want to donate your artifact to a museum, there is a good possibility they will not accept the object. Some of the larger museums in Saskatchewan such as the Western Development Museum, focuses on collecting artifacts from the 20thcentury. The Royal Saskatchewan Museum, does collect artifacts from all time periods, but they too may say no. Artifacts such as arrowheads, hammerstones, and spear points tend to be extremely common in Prairie museums and often have little, or no known history associated with the artifact.



So for now Kirsten curates her small collection and when she comes across an artifact in the bush, she reflects on the fact that she might be the first person in one thousand years to touch this object.

Have you ever found anything on your adventures? I want to know! Contact me at allyforand@gmail.com or if Twitter and Instagram are more your speed my handle on both is @Ally_but_online.

BRINGING BACK THE BUFFALO PART 2

Breaking the Glass Case | Alexandra Forand

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In the last segment of “Breaking the Glass Case” we discussed the different ways in which Prairie Peoples utilized buffalo and where those artifacts are held today—namely, museums. In this blog I would like to venture outside and would like to look at where living buffalos reside in Canada, because despite destruction of habitat, disease, and over hunting in the 18th, 19th, and 20th century the buffalo still have a place in Canada.

There are many restoration projects being done in Canada to reintroduce the buffalo and stabilize their numbers. Each restoration project is intensive and there is no guarantee that the animals will thrive in the terrain. Some restoration efforts have been tried and stood the test of time, such as the Elk Island National Park located 35 kilometers east of Edmonton, Alberta, along the Yellowhead highway. In the early 20th century the Canadian government purchased a herd of buffalo from Montana, who were the ancestors of the buffalo in the park today. The park grew around this herd. Elk Island National Park has exported ungulates, especially buffalo, to other conservation efforts around the world. Today, Elk Island is a is a fully enclosed national park spanning an area of 194 square kilometers and the population of buffalo fluctuates between 350- 450.

At Elk Island National Park it is not uncommon to see these gentle giants at large! (source.)

Other restoration efforts are newer such as the Nature Conservatory of Canada’s (NCC) efforts. The NCC was established in 1962. In 1996, Peter and Sharon Butula donated 3,088 acres of land to the NCC in southwestern Saskatchewan.  In 2003, the NCC introduced a genetically pure herd of buffalo from Elk Island National Park to this area. Today, interpreters are available to lead visitors on tours to experience the vastness of the land and see the buffalo.

A unique project in the way of buffalo restoration is being done by Wanuskewin Heritage Park in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. In 2017, The park was granted a 99 year lease of agricultural land from the city of Saskatoon. This land is being restored to native prairie, meaning no chemical pesticides of herbicides are being used to control weeds. Beyond providing the land, Wanuskewin is partnering with Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities to best provide for the buffalo. 

Pictured above is the natural plains which span Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba (source).

This project was inspired by the growing movement to bring the buffalo closer to home. Brady Highway, the resource management coordinator of Wanuskewin explains that there are many reasons in which it is important to bring buffalo closer to home.

The buffalo are spiritually connected and are teachers to the Prairie Peoples. These animals work to restore aspects of spiritual and cultural structure that has been lost since European settlement. Secondly, the restoration of the buffalo can signal a much bigger change for the way in which Prairie Peoples are viewed by the dominant settler culture. The reintroduction also works to revitalize Prairie Peoples’ traditions that were outlawed by the colonial state of Canada. Lastly, Bison are also natural ecologists, and they help keep the land healthy and strong. 

A mother and her calf (source).

The three examples of buffalo reintroduction span nearly 100 years—and in the case of Wanuskewin—into the future. These projects are incredibly important for the survival of buffalo, but also the survival of Prairie Peoples’ cultures, traditions, and histories. Furthermore, the collaboration between Indigenous and non-Indigenous parties helps to aid in the reconciliation process moving forward.

I hope this two part series showed you how important buffalo were, and are, to Prairie Peoples’ lives. Have you been to any of the places I’ve mentioned? Do you plan on going? Let me know! Contact me at allyforand@gmail.com or if Twitter and Instagram are more your speed my handle on both is @Ally_but_online.

A special thanks to Brady Highway at Wanuskewin Heritage Park!