Presented at Pi*llOry part four, July 26, 2020.
miina kawapamitin (until we meet again, in Michif) is an act of labor, love, and embodiment in the form of ongoing research, beading, piercing, naming. It is a hopeful gesture towards healing for those Indigenous to Turtle Island who have been taken from us in so-called Canada by the violence of policing. I remove the literal and metaphoric wound of their loss from my body, resting the beaded piece with sacred medicines and eventually washing the blood of the wounds off of my body.
Performance Transcription:
If you would like to smudge yourself, please feel invited to come up and do so, due to Covid-19 concerns, I wont be assisting anyone to do so…
Rodney Levi
Chantel Moore
Regis Korchinski-Paquet
Everett Patrick
Jason Collins
Eishia Hudson
Lucien Silverquill
Randy Cochrane
Robin Fiddler
Geoff Morris
Benjamin Richard
Greg Ritchie
Sterling Ross Cardinal
Agnes Sutherland
Joey Knapaysweet
Brandon Stephen
David Sappa
Bryden Bryce Whitstone
Cavin Kelsey Poucette
Cody Severight
Evan Grant Caron
Adrian Lacquette
Marlon “Roland” Jerry McKay
Dale Culver
Austin Eaglechief
Illutak Anautak
Jeremy Nuvviaq
Moses Amik Beaver
Ralph Stephens
Charles Qirngnirq
Daniel Legarde
Jordan Lafond
Debra Chrisjohn
Jocelyn Nynah Marsha George
Jôvan Williams
Sandy Tarzan Michel
Marvel Woodhouse
James Daniel McIntyre
James Reginald Butters Hayward
Sammy Alook
Naverone Christian Landon Woods
Sindy Ruperthouse
Noah Qiluqi
Daniel Charland
Lance Cutarm
Ryan Allen Walter Jacob
Felix Taqqaugaq
Karen Lander
Corwin Peeace
Kinling Fire
Paul Duck
Cyrus Green
Bernard Giroux Jr.
Romeo Wesley
Brian Gray
Lance Trevor Muir
Robert Stone
Eric Daniels
Bernadette Auger
Angela Lavoie
Rodney Shayne Jackson
Douglas Heagle
Johnny Michel-Dumont Jr.
John Simon
Raymond Silverfox
Harry Haineault
Craig McDougall
Michael Langan
“Chase” Kenneth Standingready-Mckay
Jacqueline Montgrand
Byron Debassige
Dwayne Charles Dustyhorn
Delbert Kenneth Pelletier
Jay Douglas Louis
Howard Fleury
Kyle Tait
Matthew Dumas
Dennis St. Paul
Gerald Chenery
Sandy Salowatfeak
Clark Whitehouse
Geronimo Fobister
Clayton Alvin Willey
Lorraine Sue Moon
Darwin Robert Campbell
Naytanie Atadjuat
Darrell Paquette
Danny Sand
Peter Benoit Prince
Donald Miles
Francis Joseph Mark
Vernon Crowe
Richard William Allen
Keldon McMillan
Melvin Bigsky
Adam Wayne Beadle
Maurice Linklater
Madeleine Henry
Paulsey Alphonse
Fred Stewart
Lawrence Kim Wegner
Rodney Naistus
Lloyd Dustyhorn
John Tibbett Jr.
Anthony Dawson
Frank James Watts
Frank Paul
Harley Clayton Johnnie Timmers
Constance Brenda Jacobs
“Ty” Tyundanaikah Jacobs
Miina kawapamitin.
Until we meet again.
Near the end of February 1998, my father’s alcoholism peaked in a night of crisis. I never understood how he was fortunate enough to survive that night, knowing weapons were present and he was highly distraught. I thought the police had been called on him. I recently learned that even though she took us away from our home that night, my mother didn’t call the police until the next day.
The Canadian government keeps no publicly available database of police-involved deaths. Records of ethnicity are not kept. There is no database that includes in-custody deaths, or events like starlight tours. We know though, our minds and our bodies hold each of these wounds. I have named those whose names I know, from today back to that pivotal night in my life, in 1998.
Documentation of this work, an accompanying video of beading the small red pieces for the ongoing memorial component of this project, an installation, and updated writing for the exhibition catalogue were exhibited at HOEA! Gallery in Aotearoa (New Zealand) in 2021. Documentation can be viewed here.