Monthly Archives: September 2014

Tâns’i n’totemtik (Hello friends!) I’m really making up for a lack of summer content here! I decided to jump right in to the events for October because…well, there is JUST SO MUCH HAPPENING! We are really very lucky to live in a place like Ottawa where Indigenous arts and culture thrives and jives its way right across the city. First up, there are some seriously deadly new walks coming up and I hope you can make it out for one. I might be biased but I think you’d be missing out if you didn’t get to catch at least one of these walks.

NEW WALKS

Parliament Hill Tour

I’m pretty excited about this tour because it’s a walk that starts at the Centennial Flame on Parliament Hill and examines architecture, monuments and landscape through an Indigenous lens. For instance, we’ll stop at the Persons Monument and focus on Indigenous people and voting in Canada. I’ll explore the relationship that our past Prime Ministers had with Indigenous people in Canada and together we can search for hidden architecture of Indigenous imagery built right in to the Parliament buildings. Make sure to check the schedule regularily for updates. To register email jaime@indigenouswalks.com. We meet at the Centennial Flame on Parliament Hill.

• September 28 @ 5pm-7pm
• October 12 @ 2pm-4pm
• October 28 @ 5:30pm-7:30pm

Kostâciwin: A Scary Special

Join me for a unique tour filled with tales of life, death and just plain creepy stories that come from Indigenous peoples! It’ll be sure to leave your hair raised by the end of the tour! We will meet in the middle of Confederation Park at the Water Fountain. To register, email jaime@indigenouswalks.com. You can check the schedule for dates and times. We meet at the fountain in Confederation Park:

• October 22 @ 7pm-9pm
• October 25 @ 7pm-9pm
• October 30 @ 7pm-9pm

Of course, there are also the walks for beginners that are always going to be available:

Beginner’s Tour

This tour is for individuals who are new learners of Indigenous social, political and culture issues. It is also for individuals who have not seen the Ottawa landscape from an Indigenous artistic perspective through monuments and environmental landscape. We meet at the Human Rights Monument.

• October 7 @ 1pm-2pm FREE tour with the City of Ottawa
• October 7 @ 5:30pm-7:30pm
• October 10 @ 6pm-8pm

EVENTS

October 1 – Kimiwan Call for Submission

October 2 – Exhibition opening: Storytelling opens at the Ottawa School of Art Gallery Downtown Campus. The Ottawa School of Art Byward Market Campus is proud to present the group exhibition Storytelling, a selection of pieces featured in the 2nd edition of the Contemporary Native Art Biennial. The exhibition takes place from September 25 to November 16 at the Ottawa School of Art’s Byward Market Gallery at 35 George Street, Ottawa. Reception: meet the artist takes place on Thursday, October 2 from 5pm to 8pm. All welcome! This group exhibition showcases the art works of Luke Parnell, Merritt Johnson, Tanis Maria S’eiltin, Nadia Myre, and Sonny Assu.

October 3 – If you’re interested in a bit of travel, there’s a powerful dance being showcased in Montreal called “Unrelated” by Daina Ashbee. IF you can’t go, you should at least check out the provocative trailers.

October 4 – Beading with Barry Ace from 2-5pm at Gallery 101. Must register.

October 5 – FSIS Grieving, Healing, Honouring Ceremony at Victoria Island from 5pm-8pm

October 5 – Readings by Vera Wabegijig at Venus Envy at 6:30pm

October 16 – Exhibition called “Shine a Light” opening at the National Gallery of Canada with several Indigenous artists including Rita Letendre, Jutai Toonoo, Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun, Luke Parnell & Shuvinai Ashoona. 6pm. 

October 16 – A talk presented by the Ottawa Chapter of the Ontario Archeological Society called “Inuit Communities and the Reclaiming of Archival Photographs”, by Carol Payne, Associate Professor of Art History, School for Studies in Art and Culture, Carleton University Routhier Community Centre. 7:30 p.m. Free admission.

October 16 – Indigenous writers Waubgeshig Rice “Legacy” and Frank Busch “Grey-Eyes” have their book launch tonight at Wabano for 7pm.

October 17 – Book Launch for “Norval Morrisseau – Man changing Into Thunderbird” with Armand Garnett Rufo at Octopus Books from 7pm-9pm. Here’s a great article by Rabble.ca

October 18 – Unveiling of a birchbark canoe at 10 am in the exhibit area of the Gatineau Park Visitor Centre. This canoe, made by Algonquin Elder William Commanda.

October 18 & 19 – Fall Rhapsody, Weekend 3: Anishinabe Nibin (Algonquin Summer) at Gatineau Park with Pinook from Kitigan Zibi.

October 18 – Artist Talk: Meet Haida/Nisga’a artist Luke Parnell at the National Gallery of Canada

October 18 – Art Exhibition Opening with Howard Adler & Vera Wabegijig at Venus Envy from 7:30pm-10:30pm

October 20 – Wabano’s Community Harvest Feast. Turkey Dinner, community gathering and celebration of fall. 5-8pm.

October 22-26 – ImagineNATIVE festival is happening in Toronto!

October 22 – Curator’s Tour of Inuit Prints Japanese Inspiration at Carleton University Art Gallery. 7-8pm.

October 27 – Inuit Celebration at Wabano.

October 28 – Wabano’s Fall Harvest Feast. 5:30pm-8:30pm. $200/ticket

October 31 – First Nations Hallowe’en Ball at the Glue Pot Pub opens at 9:30pm As more community events come up, I’ll be sure to post them so keep checking back! The Month of the Freezing Moon is always full of surprises!

Ekosi maka (until the next time),

Jaime Koebel

Owner, Indigenous Walks

It’s been far too long since I’ve been able to catch my breath to write up another blog! There’s been so much happening and so much coming up, that I can’t NOT write a blog!

At any time, to learn more information about the blog content, click on the highlighted coloured words.

First of all, thank you to all of the people who have come on walks over the summer!

I’d also like to introduce one of our part-time tour guides Shady Hafez to Indigenous Walks. Shady is a member of the Indigenous community here in Ottawa with both Algonquin and Syrian decent. He is currently a hard-working student at Carleton University and is working on a special tour for November on war and Indigenous people. Stay tuned!

Over the summer, we had several groups do tours with Indigenous Walks:

• Aboriginal and Affairs and Northern Development Canada
• Health Canada summer students at the First Nations and Inuit Health Branch
• Canadian Association for Mental Health
• Catholic Centre for Immigrants Youth Summer Program
• Catholic School teachers
• YouthCanSlam, Wabano Youth Summer Camp
• Peoples’ Social Forum
• OPIRG’s (dis)Orientation Week
• Nuit Blanche

As well, a huge thanks to the Asinabka Festival and the Indigenous Peoples’ Solidarity Movement for partnering with Indigenous Walks to host a special tour that finished with “Rhymes for Young Gouls” at Victorial Island during the Festival on July 23rd. There was a whopping 101 people and APTN was there to record the whole event.  There have been several public tours under the summer night sky too and I was really lucky to have met some amazing quality people! Thank-you everyone for coming on the walk!!

There are new walking tours to check out too! The best place for up to date information is on the schedule page but here’s a brief synopsis:

Beginner’s Tour

This tour is for individuals who are new learners of Indigenous social, political and culture issues. It is also for individuals who have not seen the Ottawa landscape from an Indigenous artistic perspective through monuments and environmental landscape.

• September 23 @ 5pm-7pm
• October 1 @ 5:30pm-7:30pm
• October 7 @ 1pm-2pm FREE tour with the City of Ottawa

Parliament Hill Tour

I’m pretty excited about this tour because it’s a walk that starts at the Centennial Flame on Parliament Hill and examines architecture, monuments and landscape through an Indigenous lens. For instance, we’ll stop at the Persons Monument and focus on Indigenous people and voting in Canada. I’ll explore the relationship that our past Prime Minister’s had with Indigenous people in Canada and together we can search for hidden architecture of Indigenous imagery built right in to the Parliament buildings.

• September 28 @ 5pm-7pm
• October 3 @ 5:30pm-7:30pm
• October 6 @ 5:30pm-7:30pm

To view more details on any of the following events, just click on the coloured words. Easy peasy.

INDIGENOUS EVENTS AROUND OTTAWA (SEPTEMBER)

August 22 – October 4 – Material Witness: Art, Activism, and Fibre at Gallery 101 on 51B Young Street. With Anishinabe artist Barry Ace 

September 20 – “Breaking Barriers” is an exhibition that features five Indigenous artist (among others) at the Diefenbunker Museum in Carp, ON just 20 minutes from Ottawa. The five artists are Heather Campbell, Rebekah Elkerton, Peter Purdy, Tim Yearington and Howard Adler curated by Jaime Koebel. This exhibition will be up until January 2015 and will even be visisted by Amazing Race Canada during the week of September 22-26, 2014.

September 20 – “Disney Made Me Do It” with Barry Ace (Anishinabe) during Nuit Blanche at the Ottawa Art Gallery.

September 20 – If you happen to be around the Oshawa area, I would also highly recommend that you see “Reading the Talk” which is an exhibition at the Robert McLaughlin Gallery until January 2015. It is a conversation about the Dish with One Spoon Treaty. Indigenous Artists: Michael Belmore, Hannah Claus, Patricia Deadman, Vanessa Dion Fletcher, Keesic Douglas and Melissa General.

September 23 – Anyone wanting to invest in Aboriginal children in Ottawa should attend the Makonsag Aboriginal Headstart AGM. It begins at 5pm and they always have a great meal! If I didn’t have a tour that night, I’d be there in a flash.

September 25 – My friend Jennifer Hayward (Métis) is putting on a comedy/burlesque show at Zaphod’s called Tits and Giggles. The show starts at 9pm and you can get your tickets here.

September 26 – Métis jigging lessons at Wabano for the Seniors Program with Jaime Koebel from 12-2pm

September 22-26 – Jay Mason, Activist, Teacher, Warrior, Sundancer, Native way educator speaks about various subjects at Kumik Lodge in the Indian affairs building in Hull

September 26 – Wabano’s Birthday Celebration from 5pm-7pm

September 27 – Kikinàmàgan Powwow to Welcome Students and Celebrate Aboriginal Cultures from 12pm-5pm

September 28 – “Storytelling” Indigenous Art exhibition at the Shenkman. Artist talk from 12pm-3pm with Adrian Stimson.

September 29 – Free jigging lessons with Jaime Koebel at Wabano for the Perinatal Program

September 29 – Opening of autumn exhibitions at Carleton University Art Gallery (CUAG) from 5pm-7:30pm includes Indigenous artists such as Raymond Boisjoly (Haida/Quebecois), Robert Davidson (Haida), Freda Diesing (Haida) and Beau Dick (Kwakwaka’wakw).  There is also, Inuit Prints: Japanese Inspiration exhibition as a part of the opening. 

September 30 – Artist talk with Raymond Boisjoly at the Carleton University Art Gallery (CUAG). Raymond is of both Haida and Quebecois descent.

Please remember that you are all welcome to any of these events! I sure hope to see you there!

Questions

There were a few questions on my walks that people had or comments that I made that I said I would follow up with. Here they are!

For more information on the Aboriginal War Veteran’s Monument, you can check this link out. I do believe they made a mistake in the video and indicated that there are two women and two men however, to me, there are clearly three men and one woman. I’ll follow up with the people who made the video.

For the NFB film that I talked about with reference to the Métis war veteran who lost his home to a Settler Soldier upon returning from his time in the war, you can see more information here: Forgotten Warriors by Loretta Todd, 1997.

Also really cool are two local Indigenous radio programs that air right out of Ottawa. The first is Aboriginal CKCU from Carleton University that airs on Sunday mornings at 9am. My favourite program is The Michif Hour with Governor General Award winning host, Tony Belcourt. The other one is The Circle through the University of Ottawa’s CHUO with Darren Sutherland. Check him on out Tuesday from 9pm-10pm. Also click the links to hear podcasts for past shows.

There was a person on the walk who asked me about the original names of Chaudiere Falls. Through my friend and soon to be tour guide J-l Fournier, he shared this information with me (Thanks J-l!):

• Akikpauktik from mishomis Commanda,
• Akikodjiwan from James morrison (historian)
• Pesabkedjowin from Joe Wagoos

It’s kind of time to start thinking about Christmas so I thought I’d leave with you a few shopping ideas:

• Sequoia is an Indigenous owned and operated Native inspired beauty and bath company called Sequoia. I have always always been a fan of the Red Clover line!
• For a clothing boutique, check out Beyond Buckskin
• I highly recommend getting real Mukluks from the Manitobah Mukluk Company!
• Cree Nisga’a Clothing
• My favourite place to get books with Indigenous content is Goodminds.com
• My Kanienkehaka friend Tammy Beauvais has amazing clothing designs too!
• I have a Tans’i shirt and love it!
• If there are babies in your life, you might like Native Bebe
• For fine art, check out the Bear Claw Gallery.
• The BearPawPawn makes me go a little shopping cart crazy. Be forewarned! It has everything.
• NativeThreads is worth checking out for the male species in your life.
• And of course, there are always gift certificates for spring walks with Indigenous Walks! To inquire, email jaime@indigenouswalks.scom

AWARDS/RECOGNITION

They say if you want to be great, you should surround yourself with greatness. It looks like I’m in good company with friends who are winning awards all over the place. Make sure to congratulate them when you see them!

Waubgeshig Rice  from the CBC is the 2014 recipient of the Debwewin Citation for excellence in First Nation Storytelling

Tony Belcourt won a Governor General’s Award!!

My mentor, visual artist and author Christi Belcourt is the 2014 recipient of the Ontario Arts Council’s Aboriginal Arts Award. Here’s an article by the Canadian Art Magazine

Dempsey Bob also won an Governor General’s Award

Also….
Congratulations to Norm Odjick from Kitigan Zibi Reserve for getting a spot on CBC’s Canada’s Smartest Person that airs Sunday, September 28th at 8pm. Can’t wait to make this a part of my nightly Sunday evening routine for the next few weeks!

Lee Maracle for winning the Premier’s Award for Art in Ontario

Big applause also to Cheri Deimaline who won the Emerging Artist Award for Premier’s Award for Art in Ontario

Tanya Tagaq recently won the Polaris Award! Amazing!

So all that! It’s been a great summer and so far, the fall is pretty awesome too. The October dates will be posted soon! Stay tuned.

Ekosi maka,

Jaime Koebel

Owner/Operator

Indigenous Walks