Going forward together in a good way through art

By Kelly Anne Smith

ORILLIA — Artists and volunteers were expecting the last big reveal in the fourth round of art creation in the Call to Action #83 Art Project. But it was decided in a community circle afterwards that the successful Call to Action #83 Art Project of Simcoe County must continue.

In 2015, Mary Lou Meiers was present when the Honourable Murray Sinclair-baa, the then Chief Commissioner of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, delivered the final report in Chippewas of Rama First Nation.

“He presented us with four universal human Questions: Where do I come from? Where do I go after this life? Why am I here? Who am I? The Residential Schools and their legacy have impaired the normal cultural continuity that would have guided the Indigenous children to answer those questions in a genuine manner. It has also given a false sense of the full truth to the settlers when they answer those universal questions. The report has given settlers and their institutions 94 tasks to rectify Canada’s governance in a good way so we can all answer those questions in full truth and go forward together, in respect, friendship, and peace.”

She pondered that she could create a project focused on Call to Action #83, which states, “To call on the Canadian government to support in funding Indigenous and non-Indigenous artists coming together to create images to promote acts of reconciliation in Canada.”

“Even though we didn’t get a grant, the equal number of Indigenous and non-Indigenous artists participating all said this is too important not to do because of money barriers,” says Meiers. “These folks agreed that they would include learning about the Residential Schools, the Indigenous worldview, and be guided by Western and local First Nations Knowledge Keepers. It included learning about and experiencing the Sweat Lodge ceremony together. Each artist asked the kind spirit and our ancestors to grant us images that would inspire the hearts of all who see and participate in the image and inspire them in personal acts of reconciliation and truth-finding.”

Ten years later, at the art reveal on September 14 at the Ogimaa Miskwaaki Gallery, Guy Brandon Copegog, from the Marten Clan of Beausoleil First Nation, explained the image-making process. Meiers explains the artist before him showed him their image to inspire his image-making.

“After their conversation, he created his image in response. Brandon then met with the next artist and shared his image. They, in turn, had a conversation that provided the inspiration for that artist’s image until all 16 artists completed their images in turn.”

Copegog’s painting is large with an Indigenous man sitting with many visions that a bison dominates.

“I looked at the image and tried to get some inspiration. When I looked at Jeanette’s image, I saw Mother Earth and I saw children. Children, either wearing Every Child Matters shirts or in red or orange and it looked to me like they were floating up to the sky.”

Marilyn George resides in Midland, Ont., and is from the Bear Clan of Serpent River First Nation. She followed Meiers in her painting’s reveal.

“I was involved since the beginning of the Call to Action 83,” she says in the YouTube video of the Fourth Round. “My painting is about resilience. It’s sort of about Truth and Reconciliation. My family and me, we lived through the truth. And we all knew it was the truth. And we had to work on the reconciliation.”

“My mom seen me [in a dream] flying like an eagle. I always used to have dreams about flying. The eagle and the bear have been important in my life. I always follow my dreams. I had a dream one night. This dream, there were three Grandmothers. It was dark outside. There was a fire. I had just left an abusive relationship. He would always put me down because of my blood, who I am. I didn’t feel like I was enough. But these Grandmothers, all that I saw was them. I was there and all that I saw was their hands pointing to the fire. They were talking to me. They told me, ‘You are enough.’ They told me to get all that negativity out of my system. Turn it into positive. Then I started getting sick and throwing up all this black stuff into the fire. They said put that in the fire and then you’ll be ok. I woke up and I was really heaving and stuff. It was a powerful dream and that’s when I started to dance at the pow wows. I started as a Fancy Dancer and that day, my dance came to light. After that, I followed my drum and I started to sing and I had that connection to my drum.”

Mary Lou Meiers is a retired educator, artist, and settler dedicated to the acts of learning Truth and acts of Reconciliation, specifically within the Call to Action 83 Art Project.

“It was and is a most healing experience, absolutely healing. Because if I look back 10 years, when I asked the artists if they would be interested in taking part in this project the response was mainly, ‘I have no idea what you’re talking about, but sure, why not?’ or ‘It’s too big of an issue for me’, but they all came together and took a chance on it,” Meiers recalls. “And we have grown over a 10-year period together as a group of artists. Every time we’ve completed a Round, we’ve shared it with the community. The community has been studying those images that are gathered in the Ogimaa Miskwaaki Gallery (at St. Paul’s Centre in Orillia). Yesterday, about 100 people experienced the Fourth Round Art Reveal and artist stories of personal change. At the Community Circle after the feast, here’s what the people said: ‘We can’t stop this process because if we do, we might forget. We need to keep doing this.’ And everybody spoke about the healing they experienced, even the people that were just there for the Fourth Round for the first time. We’re talking about Indigenous as well as non-Indigenous participants, and families of the artists. There were people from Beausoleil (First Nation). There were people from (Chippewas of) Rama. There were Elders from both communities.”

There is a Fifth Round that the community has begun by creating their own oil pastel response to from an image from one of the artist’s four rounds of images. In small art experience groups, each individual shares their image and the inspiration received from the image they chose to respond to. Meiers explains the small group’s images are arranged in a story line that changes the story of today to one of, “Going forward together in a good way and in harmony.”

There are over 100 images posted on the website already. To view the images in the online gallery,visit: calltoaction83simcoecounty.ca.