dan kellar
Waterloo Region, ON – Most people that have walked with us say they have been transformed in how they appreciate the water and appreciate the land”. Those are the worlds of Mary Anne Caibaiosai, an Anishnaabe woman who has since 2018 been organising the Grand River Water Walk. Caibaiosai spoke to CKMS News earlier this week.
Now in its 3rd year of its second 4 year cycle, Caibaiosai also reminds folks that the walk is not a “social event or political statement, but a ceremony. This year’s walk, which begins on September 21st at the mouth of the river near Dundalk “is for the water behind the dams”. The walk, down to the river’s mouth at Lake Erie, is for people of all nations and it follows the protocols of Josephine-baa Mandamin, who led water walks around the Great Lakes prior to her passing in 2019.
This show features an interview with Mary Anne Caibaiosai
dan kellar Kitchener, ON – Ahead of the Sunrise Ceremony and celebration for the 5 year anniversary of Land Back Camp on June 21st, CKMS News spoke with Bangishimo, an organizer of the event and an Indigenous advocate in the region. June 21st is also National Indigenous People’s Day and the summer solstice.
Bangishimo told CKMS News that the Sunrise ceremony will run from 7am to around 9am in the courtyard at the Willow River Centre in downtown Kitchener. For the first time the ceremony is being held in partnership with the multicultural festival which runs over the weekend in Willow River Park.
The Sunrise ceremony will feature a ceremonial fire, drumming and song, and words from youth activist Skye Smoke, and advocate, educator, and Residential School Survivor Lila Bruyere.
Bangishimo, a coordinator at the Willow River Centre also discusses the impact that “Land Back Camp” has had locally in the five years following land reclamation action.
dan kellar
Kitchener, ON – While the neighbourhood surrounding Kitchener’s newest library branch in still under construction, inside the building, a 15m long wall sculpture has been installed and unveiled, which according to a city press release “explores and honours connection to the earth and to each other, but also the traditional sharing of knowledge within Indigenous communities.”
The artwork, a collaboration with Anishinaabe Indigenous artists Isaac Murdoch and Nyle Johnston is named Wintertime Stories and is a sprawling mixed medium sculpture made with acrylic and wood and features pictographs and iconography. The press release notes the sculpture is “rooted in the Anishinabek storytelling tradition, intersecting cultures and life in the northern woodlands”.
This show features interviews with Wintertime Stories co-creator Nyle Johnston and Eric Rumble, the Coordinator, or Arts and Creative Industries at City of Kitchener, who helped facilitate the selection process for the artwork.
dan kellar Baden, ON – Another round of public consultations has wrapped up regarding the Prime Ministers’ Path project in Baden. A list of recommendations on possible next steps for the controversial statue project will be delivered to Wilmot council at a special meeting on May 12th.
The most recent round of consultations were accompanied with the creation of a 12 member working group made up of residents who worked on the draft recommendations for the project. The draft recommendations are focused on governance and project oversight, funding, inclusion, education, location, and the project’s place in an era of truth and reconciliation.
This show features an interview with Denise Soueidan-O’Leary, the co-lead facilitator of the public engagement, and a project manager at the consulting firm Lura. More information about the Prime Ministers Path project, including all of the draft recommendations, can be found at engagewr.ca/prime-ministers-path.
dan kellar
Waterloo, ON – New exhibits which explore Indigenous histories and resilience have opened at the City of Waterloo Museum. These “impactful and informative” exhibits are a “space for reflection” about the effects of colonialism “in our own backyard”.
Two of the exhibits are Killing the Indian in the Child: Generations Lost and Bi-Giwen: Coming Home – Truth-Telling from the Sixties Scoop, both created by the organisation Legacy of Hope. The Sixties Scoop refers to actions by provincial governments which intensified in the 1960’s where Indigenous children were taken from their families and communities and adopted out to primary Euro-Canadian middle class families throughout North America. The Sixties Scoop was a continuation of colonial violence, and similar to Residential Schools the goal was assimilating Indigenous children into “western society”.
The other two exhibits are Bead the Tract from the organisation Protect the Tract which is a beadwork representation of the Haldimand Tract, and graphic recordings by Mohawk artist Dakota Brant. Graphic recordings are large-scale colourful drawings with written information, which are used for translating spoken word by facilitators during community engagement.
In a press release announcing the new exhibits, the city says “these exhibitions delve into the lasting impacts of the Residential School system and the Sixties Scoop while amplifying Indigenous voices, resilience and the ongoing journey toward Reconciliation.”
This show features an interview with Jennifer Huber, the program and engagement associate with the City of Waterloo museum, which is located in Conestoga Mall on King Street North in Waterloo. Admission is Free.
dan kellar
Waterloo – A new Indigenous reading circle at the Waterloo public library will explore a variety of short stories, essays, and poetry by Indigenous writers. Amy Smoke, a co-facilitator of the reading circle, told CKMS News “people think we are stuck in the past and only write about ceremony or history”, however, she noted “we write sci-fi, we write all kinds of things”. Smoke added “we are so much more than our trauma”.
The first book to be discussed isLove After the End, an anthology of queer Indigenous speculative fiction edited by Joshua Whitehead.
The casual reading circle at the WPL’s main branch is a collaboration with the Willow River Centre.
This show features an interview with self-described “book fanatic” Amy Smoke, an IndigiQueer, two-spirit parent, teacher, and community organizer, and a co-director of the Willow River centre.
Two dates are booked, January 16th and February 13th from 7-8pm, register at wpl.ca.
On June 20th, 2020, O:se Kenhionhata:tie, also known as Land Back Camp, was originally launched by Amy Smoke, Bangishimo, and Terre Chartrand in what was known as Victoria Park in Kitchener. The camp quickly became a hub of activity and it was quickly observed that “most of the young people at the camp were also Two Spirit, queer, trans, and/or non-binary. Land Back Camp had become an Indigenous queer and trans space for young people to reconnect and learn about their Indigeneity”.
Fast forward through an intentionally short-lived land reclamation in Waterloo Park in the fall of 2020, a collaboration with the Grand River Conservation authority in 2021 to have the camp set up in the Laurel Creek Conservation area, the work with the tent encampments through 2022 and 2023, ongoing work with the local governments around supporting Indigenous spaces, and now with the opening of a new centre for “Indigenous, Black, and other racialised two-spirit and Indigiqueer youth”, Land Back Camp organisers have been busy.
This show features an interview with Amy Smoke, who along with her friend Bangishimo, is set to coordinate the activities at the new Willow River Centre in downtown Kitchener once it opens on October 7th.
Amy spoke of the goals and of the importance of the centre, the youth she hopes the centre will serve, and a bit of the process in getting to this point.
Smoke also discusses recent targeting of the centre, by an individual who used to participate in Land Back Camp, and the impact the action has had on Indigenous, Black, and other racialised communities, and two-spirited and queer communities. The police became involved in the situation after the vandalism was reported, and after arranging to turn himself in, the perpetrator of the chalking was charged with:
Mischief to Religious Property under $5,000
Criminal Harassment
Possession of Property Obtained by Crime under $5,000.
The man was released on his own recognizance and will be in court October 26th at 9am
CKMS News has been in contact with the man, a self described “former ally” who had a falling out with others at Land Back Camp, including Amy Smoke and Bangishimo. The man defended his actions as acts to bring accountability to what he says were misappropriated funds stemming from several fundraising campaigns that Land Back Camp has received. One message he chalked read “Ose:Kenhionhata:tie didn’t take Land Back! They took money from white guilt”. In his communications on social media, and with CKMS News the man also described interpersonal conflicts and behaviors he did not condone or felt were inconsistent as additional motivations for his acts. However, with many of the details being unclear or speculative in nature and with the personal attacks on Land Back Camp participants, CKMS News did not find it appropriate or in the public interest to publish the full communication.
Smoke, clearly frustrated and angry about the situation, said of the man “They need an intervention, they need some help. They’re no okay”
The interview moves back to positive things around the centre with Smoke inviting folks to the opening ceremonies at the Willow River Centre on October 7th from 9am-2pm “but probably later”. The address is 243 King St E, near the Kitchener Farmers Market.
Smoke concludes by encouraging folks to check out the many events happening around the National for Truth and Reconciliation.
