Statement

In speaking with Ryan about his idea for his piece we discussed things important to reconciliation, like the generational passing of culture, and language and embracing spirit. We each have our own background, we each come from somewhere and thus we each have our own cultures, our own languages and our own spiritual beliefs that nurture us. No one way of being is higher than another. By allowing each other the freedom and the space to embrace our cultural differences, we say to one another that I will hold space for you in my world and I will respect your culture and your beliefs by allowing you to have them.

My piece arose out of an anecdote that Ryan shared with me about his dream and then subsequent encounter with a bear and that spoke to me on a spiritual level, because you see, Ryan said he wasn't a person who dreamed, so this dream was a strange experience for him. It spoke to me of nature, how most humans think of themselves as separate from nature but in my culture, Anishinaabe people we see ourselves as an integral part of the natural world. We are part of the wisdom of Earth and life that has been passed down for millennia. We believe that before we come to earth, we all exist together in the spirit world; everything that possesses life here on earth chose to come to earth for that experience, and so life here on earth is our relative.

And so, my friend Ryan, had a message from a relative through his dream and when he went out onto the land, his relative came to acknowledge him. In this piece I've shown this connection that Ryan has with the bear by placing him inside the bear, to illustrate that spiritual connection that they hold. I've also included Ryans son in this painting to show that even successive generations are connected to our spirit and that they are important in carrying on our legacies and in that, it's important for us to see that we need to heal in order to give them the best experience as they journey around the four moons of life; represented here by our four directions in the Anishinaabe language;

Waabanong, the eastern direction where we are born and begin our journey;

Zhaawanong, the southern direction where we spend the majority of our life, learning and experiencing it;

Ningaabiinanong, the western direction, where we end our time here on earth and journey through that western door and back to our Ancestors; and we journey to

Giwedinong, the northern direction, the land of the ancestors, the spirit world and creator where we share with our relatives the learning we have acquired here on earth.

And if you look in the background of this painting you see the northern lights, for Anishinaabe people the northern lights represent the land of our ancestors, so that's where we come from and where we return too.

I've also included in this piece our four medicines which honour each direction, Tobacco, Cedar, Sage and Sweetgrass and to protect the sacredness of the story that is told here about Ryan and his spiritual connection to the natural world; and to remind us of our connections to one another, and to give us something to think about in terms of reconciliation, and that is, How would you like your relatives to be treated?