Fort William First Nation artist celebrates launch of new book
By Rick Garrick
THUNDER BAY — Fort William artist Helen Pelletier is very happy with the Thunder Bay Art Gallery’s publication of Helen Pelletier: Wiigwas Manidoog Descendants, which celebrates and documents her first solo exhibition in 2023. The 46-page full-colour book also features original commissioned text by Serpent River storyteller Isaac Murdoch; a foreword by Matthew Hills, executive director at the Thunder Bay Art Gallery; curatorial notes by Penelope Smart, curator at the Thunder Bay Art Gallery; and a selection of poems by Daanis Pelletier, Pelletier’s daughter.
“I’m really surprised how beautiful Penelope worked to make it come together,” Pelletier says during the book launch at A Celebration of Learning with Connected North gathering at the Thunder Bay Art Gallery on Jan. 27. “I never imagined when we had this (Helen Pelletier: Wiigwas Manidoog Descendants exhibition), that a publication would come from it. As you look at the publication, it beautifully shows the show, so I’m very happy with it.”
Pelletier says photos of her father and her sister are included in the publication.
“The dress that my sister wore in that photo was what I based my show off of, so how I stitched and did all my work,” Pelletier says. “It was really my mom who made that dress, so it’s all connected.”
Pelletier says the exhibition was “very touching” for her.
“When I saw the book, I got emotional all over again,” Pelletier says.
Pelletier says the exhibition has since been shown in other communities across the country.
“The skirts went to Montreal after here and then out to B.C. for a show at the Aunty Collective,” Pelletier says.
Daanis says one of her poems, Anemki Wajiw, was about her community and where she comes from.
“And the other is called Two Thunderbirds — it’s about me and my friend, we’re both named Thunderbird in the language, just two different ways,” Daanis says, noting that it was exciting to have her poetry published in the book. “I did the poems actually before the exhibition that my mom had, I did them in high school and she wanted to include them in the exhibition in some sort of way, so it kind of worked perfectly with the book.”
Fort William First Nation Chief Michele Solomon says there was nothing that represented her community or First Nations people when she attended school.
“There was really nothing on the walls that portrayed anything about First Nations people, never mind people from Anemki Wajiw,” Chief Solomon says. “So when we’re given these opportunities to hold up people that we love and care about, that are transferring knowledge and transferring legacy — when you look through this booklet and its got poems from Daanis, its got a picture of Trina and its got a picture of Helen’s dad when he was a Chief — this is a treasure and Helen’s work, this is such a beautiful treasure that gets passed down. I know that much of our history has been told through story and shared through story and carried on in that way, which has been really beautiful, but I know that there has been things lost so to have this opportunity to pass this legacy on and some day Helen’s grandchildren and great grandchildren … and her nieces and her great nieces and nephews [will have that] and it won’t be lost, it will be shared and it will be honoured and acknowledged.”
Hills says they were deeply proud to publish the Helen Pelletier: Wiigwas Manidoog Descendants book.
“Helen is such a key artist in our community,” Hills says, adding that the Helen Pelletier: Wiigwas Manidoog Descendants exhibition was nominated for an exhibition award with Ontario Galleries. “This publication is a legacy, not only of that exhibition but more importantly Helen’s practice, her traditional knowledge, the way she activates community in support of her practice, and we’re so thrilled that we had the ability to celebrate that publication and her work today.”