Round 3 Story
A Lot More To Say…
The Story of Round 3
What does Truth and Reconciliation in Simcoe County Look Like Now in 2021 after Seven Years of Image Seeking?
So much happened between January 2018 and October 2022.
March 17, 2020: The WHO officially declared the COVID-19 outbreak and epidemic. (Wikipedia.org)
November - December 2020: Ontario initiated rolling Lockdowns. (ibid)
January 12, 2021: A state of emergency was declared in Ontario. (ibid)
June 21, 2021: the Government of Canada passed Bill C-5 to make September 30 a federal statutory day. It is observed as the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, previously known as Orange Shirt Day that began in 2013. (ibid)
March 13, 2021: Our Western Knowledge Keeper, Dr. Austin Clarkson Died. Jon Oelrichs, participating artist and former student of Dr. Austing Clarkson and Beverly Clarkson, agrees to be a Western Knowledge Keeper.
May 28, 2022: The unmarked graves of 215 children were confirmed after Sarah Beauliei, an anthropologist at Kamloops Indian Residential School). the University of Fraser Valley, British Columbia surveyed the apple orchard on the grounds of the Kamloops Indian Residential School (established in 1893-1978) (Wikipedia)
July 17, 2022: Pope Francis came to Canada on a “… penitential pilgrimage… to foster reconciliation among Indigenous peoples.” (Globe and Mail, Pg. A14, Saturday, July 23, 2022.)
May 2023: The WHO officially declared the end to the COVID-19 pandemic. (Wikipedia.org)
We were a pretty shaken group. We had seen and done so much learning since June 2, 2015 when the Late Senator Murray Sinclair had released the Final Summary of the TRC Commission with the Calls to Action.
In September 2021, The Leadership Team and the Coordinator of St. Paul’s United Community Centre and home to the Ogiima Miskwaaki Gallery wrote the Artists and Knowledge Keepers and Elder a letter asking us to please do Round 3. They stated:
“Over the last 35 years, we have sought numerous means to heal this injustice.” (residential schools and legacy) Your art has helped deepen our awareness and inviting concrete responses.
It is our understanding that you are considering another Round of art as part of this Call #83 initiative. We believe this would be an important addition to the cultural conversation at this time and would love to be supportive of it.”
“Thank you for considering this invitation of this third Round and we look forward to continuing this long walk of truth telling and finding small steps forward.”
The artists resoundingly agreed to Round 3. There were 17 artists who continued on and once again, we gathered for a Sacred Sweat Lodge, feast and draw to begin our next labor of love. This Round returned to a balance of cultures in the image making process. We began with and Indigenous artist and ended with a non-Indigenous artist. Albert Snache drew the first time slot. He began the process on October 18, 2021. Christina Luck ended it on August 23, 2022. The private reveal happened in September and the Public Reveal happened on October 23, 2022. The Ogimaa Miskwaaki Gallery was formally named and dedicated at this public Reveal. The images and artist statements are found in the Round 3 section of this website.
On the day of the public reveal, Chief Ted Williams, and Councillor Lorraine McRae from the Chippewas of Rama First Nation and our Call to Action #83 Knowledge Keepers and Elder gathered with the artists in the gallery for a private meeting before the public Reveal. They thanked the artists for continuing their Image Seeking on the behalf of the community. Councillour and Elder Lorraine McRae remarked that we were in the Western doorway now doing our work. When we started, we were in the Eastern Doorway where ideas are born. Round 2 was the Southern Doorway where relationships are made among those needed to engage in the idea. Now we are in the Western Doorway where we gather the things we need to complete a task. She thanked us for persisting to complete our work though all four Directions. This is not a “One-of” event. It is a long journey of learning and growing in Truth in order to Fix the Relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous in what we now call Simcoe County.
The Answer to Round 3 Question
This Round begins with a third type of Hope. Albert’s stunning image of the sacred balance of life is charged with Spirit Hope. When we return to right relationship with All of Creation, we become Humble, Loving, Respectful, Brave, Honest, and we learn to cherish Truth and gain Wisdom over time. After all that has happened, in what we call Simcoe County, we need to walk with these attitudes to heals ourselves and rebalance our hearts, minds, spirit and bodies. We are so lucky to be able to reside on these traditional lands of the Anishinabe Peoples respectfully, in friendship and in peace together. That original Right Relationship with All of Creation is still maintained in this area. The Elders are teaching them to the present generations who want to return to them to heal and be true to who they are. They are answering the 4 fundamental universal human questions of life that the Late Murray Sinclair shared with us in 2015. They are:
Where do I come from?
Where am I going?
Why am I here?
Who am I?
If we process all the images and learnings of this Round, we end with Christina Luck’s Three Flying Ducks. She talks about the Healing colour of Green. Her work is a reflection pond with a stick on it that represents the Pike in Chief Lady Bird’s work that inspired Christina. When we look closely, she has written upside down and backwards (rearview reflection) the following, “Land Back”. This Round is Hope that we return to the land and heal. Hope that Mind, Heart and Spirit “Hopes” become balanced and land based. A new Balance of Mind, Heart, Spirit and Body relationship with All Our Relations. It is a great gift the First Nations Peoples (of what we now call Simcoe County) are sharing this teaching with us. Their Balance depends on our Balance. The Duck’s balance and wellbeing depends on our Balance. We Are All Related.
Nothing new to the Anishinaabe time immemorial teaching of Balance and Right relationship with ALL of Creation. It is to non-Indigenous who come from ancestors with long histories of acts of personal and social “Dominion Over” and the concept of private property. That balance is only a veneer away with a change of Heart, Mind and Spirit if we choose to go back to the Healing Green of the Land. It is there we too can find the answers to those four Universal Human Questions that are the foundation to Health and Wholeness.