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Inuit throat singers, at the Canadian Museum of Civilization, National Aboriginal Day, June 21, 2007. |
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A young boy jigs while fiddler and guitar player provide the tunes. Queen's Park, Toronto, November 2005. |
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Melissa Jo Belcourt Moses, Metis artist living in Edmonton displaying her beadwork. Melissa joined a group of Alberta Native traditional artist to show their work on the Mall at the Smithsonian in Washington, DC. |
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Introduction
The Canadian Museum of Civilization is considering an exhibition on urban Native life in Canada.
In preparation for this exhibition, we are seeking submissions that explore and reflect on this topic, for posting on the Canadian Museum of Civilization Web site.
Aboriginal and Inuit people have moved to urban centres for a multitude of reasons, including better housing, health care, education, employment, improved social life, recreation, or the anonymity that urban centres offer.
Through traditional and contemporary art, multi-media, film, theatre, music, video, literature, poetry and performance, the proposed exhibition will explore the role of identity, culture, language, [their] relationship to the land, traditional knowledge and traditional art in the lives of Aboriginal and Inuit people living in urban centres.
This Web site and proposed exhibition will also address other issues of concern that affect urban Aboriginal people living in each of these cities. During the preliminary research over the past 5 years in Whitehorse, Vancouver, Edmonton, Saskatoon, Winnipeg, Ottawa, Toronto, Montreal, Fredericton, Halifax, St. John’s and New York City, a number of common issues of concern to the urban Aboriginal community have appeared. In practically every city, Aboriginal people have pointed out the following:
- We are losing our language and our culture;
- There is a major issue with homelessness among urban Aboriginal people and a lack of adequate housing to meet the community’s needs;
- Poverty and lack of proper nutrition greatly impact our people living in the city;
- There is a lack of proper education and training to find employment in the city.
- Diabetes, HIV and AIDS, drug and alcohol addictions impact our community both on the reserve but particularly in the cities, where people have come for proper treatment or to escape the stigma associated with HIV and AIDS.
On a positive note, a very vibrant Aboriginal and Inuit arts community has made tremendous contributions to fine art, theatre, literature and film in cities like Saskatoon, Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, Whitehorse and Edmonton. Most of the cities involved in the project have an active and successful artist community as well as a very successful business and entrepreneur community. Through this project, we hope to attract and draw from the urban Aboriginal community to tell their story of the “Aboriginal urban reality” across Canada and in New York City.
For more information on the project and on upcoming exhibitions, we invite you to read further.
The video excerpts presented here require Flash Player.
Anne Nibby-Wood, Halifax
Art defines who we are
Watch the video
Jim Logan, Ottawa
The role art plays in the lives of urban Aboriginal people
Watch the video
Ann Smith, Whitehorse
The role of art in her life and that of the Whitehorse community
Watch the video
