We would like to acknowledge we are gathered on the original lands of Anishinaabeg, Cree, Oji-Cree, Dakota and Dene peoples, and the Métis Nation. We acknowledge that our source of water is sourced from Shoal Lake 40 First Nation.
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Special artist talk part of the Worldings: A Virtual Conference
Sunday, July 11, 2021
STATEMENT
Mide-wigwas: Transmediating is an exhibit focused on the relationship of birchbark scrolls, as relatives holding both sacred and historical knowledge, to other archival media such as photographs and film. 70 years ago, the artist Angelina McLeod’s great-uncle James Redsky (re)produced a series of Midewiwin birchbark scrolls, including origin, migration, and master scrolls, telling the story of the Anishinaabeg migration from east to west. The migration has been documented in other sources, but these scrolls are the only known source that conveys this history through traditional Anishinaabeg methods of knowledge record. Redsky is from McLeod’s community of Shoal Lake 40 (SL40) First Nation, and in 1966 sold his scrolls to the Glenbow museum in Alberta where they currently reside.
Midewiwin pictograph birch-bark scrolls contain stories, songs, and sacred narratives (Aadizookaanag) that have been handed down to the Anishinaabeg from generation to generation, long before the arrival of settlers on Turtle Island. This exhibit begins to connect the intergenerational Midewiwin practice in McLeod’s family to study of and relation with birch bark scrolls historically and through embodied knowledge. The purpose of this exhibit is to honor the ancestors and culture by re-telling our stories through intergenerational history across media and through Anishinaabeg ways of knowing.
BIO
Angelina McLeod (Anishinaabekwe) is an emerging filmmaker, writer, and documentary subject from Shoal Lake First Nation. Angelina is a land and water defender who is passionate about sharing Anishinaabeg history, culture, languages and stories. Her research is focused on Midewiwin birch bark scrolls that were once held by her grand uncle James Redsky, WWI veteran and prominent member of the Midewiwin, interpreted the scrolls before they were sold to the Glenbow Museum in Calgary for preservation. Angelina directed a series of short films with the National Film Board of Canada about her community Shoal Lake 40, First Nation, the source of Winnipeg’s drinking water.
Thank you to Jessica Jacobson-Konefall and Daina Warren on this project.
Special funding came from Canada Council for the Arts and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, and special thanks to University of Manitoba School of Art.
Artist FB & IG @ Ange McLeod