Biinjitiwaabik Zaaging Anishinaabek artist publishes book to celebrate creating art for others

By Rick Garrick

THUNDER BAY—Biinjitiwaabik Zaaging Anishinaabek (BZA) artist Shaun Hedican recently published Nishwaasobiboonag, which means eight years, to celebrate eight years of having the honour of creating art for other people.

“I wanted to assemble a collection of images that people who are interested in my art or new to my art may not have access to, to give them a better idea of the range of pieces that I have created and the various scenes that they might not be normally exposed to in a gallery setting or at an event,” Hedican says. “And also I wanted to create a project that sort of captured something of the spirit of our age.”

One of the images is a halftone work featuring the James Street Swing Bridge between Thunder Bay and Fort William.

“I call [it] Definitely Racist,” Hedican says. “It’s been quite a contentious issue about whether or not the bridge should be reopened, why it was burned, whether or not it should be replaced, the resistance to having the two communities connected directly and also scenes of cultural appropriation with the two figures that are dressing themselves in perceived Native garb.”

Hedican says the book, which is available online, also features poetry by Candace Twance and Jayal Chung, a reflection on writing by Damien Lee and an art piece by his grandmother Margaret Hedican.

“She was an artist and an art teacher in Nipigon,” Hedican says about his grandmother. “She first moved to northern Ontario and lived in Beardmore [near BZA] and was very proud to have lived next door to [Woodland artist] Norval Morrisseau at one time.”

Hedican says his grandmother’s artwork inspired him to be an artist.

“It instilled in me the idea that art was important and that it was something valuable,” Hedican says. “What struck me was that although she was a non-Indigenous person, her family was originally from the Alsace region in France, she had a genuine respect for Indigenous people and Indigenous culture.”

Hedican says there has been a “great” reaction to his book.

“It has been really well received,” Hedican says. “One of my ideas was that it would serve as a companion to an existing collection and people could share a larger spectrum of pieces with visitors or perhaps even select images that would be available as prints.”

Hedican also plans to sell his book on the Pow Wow trail and in local galleries.

“I’m just waiting for Pow Wow season to get started here in order to expose a larger audience to it,” Hedican says. “I’ve been busy trying to accumulate more copies of the book for galleries, including the Thunder Bay Art Gallery and the Ahnisnabae Art Gallery.”

Hedican began working on the book after his uncle passed on this past Fall. He had already commissioned the poets and writer to create their contributions to the book.

“It is actually a really good time to produce your own book,” Hedican says. “Now with technology and so on, you can easily design your own book and produce it yourself.”

Hedican says the book can be printed on demand, so he has been printing relatively small runs of books as he needs them.

“I’ve made it available on my Etsy page,” Hedican says. “And I’ve also just been doing it by word of mouth on social media.”