Biinjitiwaabik Zaaging Anishinaabek artist delivers workshop for Fort William First Nation citizens

By Rick Garrick

FORT WILLIAM FIRST NATION—A group of Fort William citizens are sporting jackets, t-shirts and bags with bear paw and tomahawk designs thanks to two screen printing workshops by Biinjitiwaabik Zaaging Anishinaabek artist Shaun Hedican.

Hedican delivered a workshop for adults and youth on the evening of Aug. 8 at the Fort William First Nation Arena Gym after delivering a workshop earlier in the day for seven-to-nine-year-old children at the Niibin Day Camp.

“The kids [from the day camp] were all excited and ran home with their new t-shirts and left their old ones sitting here,” says Fort William Elder Lorraine Bannon, who participated in the evening workshop. “It was quite interesting — we learned a lot about what screen printing is all about. And I have something to walk away with showing my skills I developed today. And we’re from the Bear Clan, so there you go.”

Hedican enjoyed the opportunity to work with a range of Fort William citizens during the two workshops.

“It was also enjoyable to see different age groups interacting and creating art together,” Hedican says. “It’s nice to see different generations creating art together. It’s a really healthy activity with a little bit of cultural content, too.”

Hedican says the first step of the screen printing process was to pass ink through the screen to create the design on the fabric.

“Some community members brought in some articles of clothing like sweatshirts and Jolene Bannon brought in a jean jacket, for example,” Hedican says. “It’s a great medium because it’s something anyone can do with a very limited amount of equipment. There is an immediate result too, and satisfaction in the creative process.”

Hedican used a heat gun to speed up the drying process because there wasn’t enough time during the workshops to allow the print to air dry.

“And then we used an iron to heat set the ink,” Hedican says.

Hedican says the tomahawk design is one of his favourite designs.

“For me, it kind of represents balance,” Hedican says. “The pipe side of the object and the eagle feathers kind of represent the peaceful side of people and perhaps the more spiritual side. And the other edge is the cutting edge, which represents perhaps a more assertive side of the circle.”

Helen Pelletier, culture and recreation coordinator with Fort William, says the children enjoyed the day camp workshop.

“They were just excited to have their own shirt with his image on it,” Pelletier says. “And the little boys really loved the tomahawks and the bear paws. A lot of people thought the little boys wouldn’t be interested, but they were really interested because of the images.”

Pelletier says some of the participants printed extra tote bags so they could give them as a gift within a bag.

“It’s environmentally friendly, and they can give a gift away with Shaun Hedican’s print on it,” Pelletier says.

Pelletier says this was the third workshop that Hedican did for the day camp, which ran for four weeks from mid-July to mid-August.

“I find that he is really good at doing these kind of community-based events and community projects and working with large groups of people,” Pelletier says. “He is very patient. We really enjoy working with Shaun.”

Hedican previously delivered an art workshop this past winter in Fort William.

“It’s a great opportunity for me to share art with other people and also share some of the concepts that I’ve learned about our culture,” Hedican says.