MKUIGOBishop’s Education students honouring Abenaki territory

and the Wabanaki Confederacy

Created colaboratively by Christine Sioui-Wawanaloath and the students in Dr. Lisa Taylor’s EDU205 Settler Colonialism, Education, and Decolonization 2016, Bishop’s University

MKUIGO“It is red” (Abenaki)

It’s red, It’s life, It’s endless…

We are grateful for the support of the Bishop’s School of Education, Speaker’s Fund, and the Foreman Art Gallery

How do we repair and honour the relationships that give us life? How do we work to end settler colonialism?This collaborative piece originated in the Project of Heart process as students in Dr. Lisa Taylor’s course EDU205 were studying the ongoing history of settler colonialism and residential schools in Canada, asking how we’re complicit and what we’re going to do about it. This permanent installation aims to honour the Abenaki nation and Wabanaki Confederacy, the traditional stewards and protectors of this territory on which we are privileged to study at Bishop’s University.

Christine’s artist statement reminds us that acknowledging territory needs to be just the start. We’ve learned that, in order to be anything more than an un-invited visitor complicit with colonization, it takes ongoing learning, critical reflection, building relationships of respect and alliance that support Indigenous resurgence, taking up one’s obligations and renewing the process of treaties through Indigenous-led dialogue.

What do students think about the practice of acknowledging our privilege to live and study on Abenaki territory and honouring the traditional protectors of this

territory?

Listen to a range of thoughts and reflections

(click the text):

What do BU students think about the practice of acknowledging our privilege to live and study on Abenaki territory?

Honouring our connections, transforming personal, family,

community, and national historiesChristine challenged us to see this project as unfinished and continually growing, like blood coursing through the veins that entangle and sustain us but also pulse us into action.

Click below to listen to her artist statement. Then join the growing conversation with your own video! iframe width="500" height="870" frameBorder="0" src="https://flipgrid.com/embed/topic/e9143c" </iframe