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Makeup Look by Nightsong Wapass from Thunderchild First Nation

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"Concrete Indians" by Nadya Kwandibens

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This art is for the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG) controversy in Canada. The makeup look by Nightsong Wapass of Thunderchild First Nation was included in this project because it raises awareness for the contemporary issue of missing Indigenous women in an expressive way. Her eyeshadow is in shades of yellow, orange, and purple to emulate a sunset. On top of it there is a line Indigenous women drawn, their faces turned away, dressed in rust-colored clothing. Their hair is braided down their backs with a single feather set upon their heads. Wapass expresses concern for her community and her work got a lot of publicity throughout social media, bringing awareness to the problem without the need of graphic material for eye-catching attention. As well, it lets Nightsong articulate who she is through her art. Her art connects to Tina Fontaine’s death, her death was due to negligence of the police and the disregard of an Indigenous peoples' life. Her murder was brought to light in “Welcome to Winnipeg: Where Canada’s racism problem is at its worst” article. The connections I made shows that the problem will be dealt with if there is enough attention brought to it. The art is important for others to engage with so that they can make a change in how Indigenous women are being murdered without any protection towards them. The Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls movement should alter how Canadian society views Indigenous women and should bring guidance to the problems they face.

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I selected these pieces because I believe they are insightful and influential; these pieces give us a window into Indigenous people’s views. Painting, photography, fashion, and makeup looks are all a way to express feeling. They show how Indigenous people are seen through their own lense, not through a colonial regime. These pieces help us understand Indigenous people. I chose Jon Labillios’s painting “Red Tears” because it symbolizes the harm Residential Schools created for the Indigenous people. This piece shows suffering for the subject of the painting, as well as the generations after them. Evan Ducharme's works at Toronto Inaugural Indigenous Fashion Week is a great example on how queer Indigenous people should be seen. He takes inspiration from his culture are inserts them into his fashion designs. Evan rejects colonial structures and continues to create beautiful designs. This photograph by Nadya Kwandibens is included because it addresses post-colonial concerns by reclaiming space. Indigenous people are still trying to reclaim the land that is rightfully theirs but are still surrounded by colonial aspects and modern life rejecting them. I also included a makeup look by Nightsong Wapass from Thunderchild First Nation. Her makeup raises awareness for missing Indigenous women in her own expressive way; this is a contemporary as well as an historical issue. My overall goal to shed light on the amazing art Indigenous people create and give my perception of the meaning they portray.

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The photograph “Concrete Indians” by Nadya Kwandibens of Ojibway from Animakee Wa Zhing First Nation was included in this mixtape because it addresses post-colonial concerns by reclaiming space. The person in the photo is surrounded by cars, while they are dressed in traditional Indigenous clothing with a fur coat covering most of their body. The person is staring into the camera with a sullen expression while we do not see the drivers’ in the cars faces. The photograph states that the Indigenous people still do not have the land that was wrongfully taken from them in the past. Even though the Canadian government promised them better prosperity as we see here their land and culture are still in jeopardy. In the photo, Indigenous peoples are still trying to reclaim space. The cars around the person signifies how the Canadian people, government and society reject their struggles and continue to ignore Indigenous people and their need to have their land back. Indigenous land is an important part of who they are. Much of their culture, practices and identity is connected to the land. By taking that away, colonists also took away Indigenous peoples lives and life meaning. The cars also proclaim how colonial ideas have harmed Indigenous land. Industrialization, pollution, and environment harm has harmed the land Indigenous people prospered on for centuries. Colonists are taking away and harming Indigenous land piece by piece. The meaning portrayed by the photograph could cause change in how people go about their everyday life; if they were more concerned for Indigenous land and took care of it the way Indigenous people have the environment would flourish.

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Evan Ducharme's works at Toronto's Inaugural Indigenous Fashion Week

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"Red Tears" by Jon Labillois

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I chose Evan Ducharmes of the Metis community of St. Ambroise, works at Toronto's Inaugural Indigenous Fashion Week to include in my project because he plays with colonial structures and styles. Disregarding his beautiful designs, my focus is on why he creates his impactful pieces. According to CBC, Evan states: “I make clothes for my community now. I make clothes for Indigenous folks; I make clothes for my family. I make clothes about our stories and I make clothes about our struggle and our happiness and our joy.” He makes his art to reject the repression colonists imposed on the Indigenous people’s art and culture. Ducharme speaks out about Indigenous stories, which connects to “Why Indigenous Literatures Matter” by Daniel Heath Justice: both of them highlight the importance of letting Indigenous people tell stories about themselves rather than letting anyone else create a false image of them, which has happened many times. Evan is taking charge of his own culture’s stories and making sure they are told in the way he wants. CBC also reports: “Another influence on Ducharme's designs is remembering LGBTQ Métis ancestors who may not have been able to live an open lifestyle.” Colonization has large impacts on the queer community of Indigenous peoples. It invisiblized queer ancestors, who could not express their love or who they were. Evan shows tribute to his ancestors in his designs and dismisses the colonial structure of homophobia and seeing queer people as subhuman. Since I have not had an opportunity to remember or represent my LGBTQ ancestors, I feel a sense of gaiety from Evan’s incorporation of his culture into his designs all while publicly honouring his queer ancestors.

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The painting “Red Tears” by Jon Labillois a member of Listuguj Migmaqto First Nation Band in Gaspe Quebec was chosen to be in this project because of the impactful symbolism of the harm and pain of residential schools. For example, in the painting there is a boy in the foreground. He is wearing something akin to a priest’s robes, his hair is cut short to his head, and he is holding a book with both hands. The boy’s face is streaked with red tears, while his expression is carefully blank. A nun looms in the background, tending to the other children. The boy’s portrait illustrates the suffering he endures in this environment he was forced into. The red tears represent the Indigenous culture seeping out of him; his clothing and hair connect to Indigenous culture suppression he is facing and the colonial need to integrate into society. His blank expression associates with his need to fit in so that he is not punished for being who he is. The expression of the boy is related to the character Saul in Richard Wagamese’s novel Indian Horse. Much like Saul, this boy is also suppressing his emotions so he can fit into the society created by colonists. Saul used books and isolation in order to tolerate the torture inflicted upon him. This helps others understand how Indigenous culture has evolved since residential schools closed. It also helps people understand the horrors done to Indigenous people under the societal norms sanctioned at the time. While these schools are not open today, the effects have long lasting impacts on the people, culture, and society since then.