Braiding A/r/tography & Métissage: Thinking together on the work of Sonny Assu réflexion concertée sur l’œuvre de Sonny Assu
Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
Abstract
Three art educators come together to respond to the work of Sonny Assu, Ligwilda’xw of the Kwakwaka’wakw Nations, who was invited as an artist-in-residence to a graduate seminar on Indigenous visual expression as pedagogy. Engaging with the concepts of Indigenous métissage, diffraction, and a/r/tography, we weave together our personal stories, identities, and practices. We discuss ways to engage in anti-colonial teaching practices that provide openings for students to retrace, reimagine, and reconcile their understandings of Indigenous-settler relations in Canada. Our call to action asks art educators to consider Indigenous métissage as an important diffractive research practice and pedagogical praxis.
Downloads
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
The copyright notice is CC BY SA.
This license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon your work even for commercial purposes, as long as they credit you and license their new creations under the identical terms. All new works based on yours will carry the same license. Thus any derivatives will also allow commercial use. For example, if someone translates your article into French, the French version of the article will also have to be shared under a CC BY SA license.
References
Aoki, T. T. (1993). Legitimizing lived curriculum: Towards a curricular landscape of multiplicity. Journal of Curriculum and Supervision, 8(3), 255-268.Assu, S. (2010). 1884-1951. [Cup size: Grande, Copper, Hudson’s Bay Point Blanket]. Equinox Gallery, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.Assu, S. (2013). Leila’s Desk. [Vintage 1930’s school desk (wood, metal), vintage Lifebuoy soap, copper leaf]. Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.Assu, S. (2014).Inherent. [1970’s school desk (metal, wood), copper leaf]. Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Assu, S. (2022).Biography[personal bio statement]. Retrieved from: https://www.sonnyassu.com/pages/biographyBarad, K. (2014). Diffracting diffraction: Cutting together-apart.parallax,20(3), 168-187.Barad, K.(2010). Quantum entanglements and hauntological relations of inheritance: Dis/continuities, spacetime enfoldings, and justice-to-come.Derrida today,3(2), 240-268.Battiste, M. (2013). Decolonizing education. Nourishing the learning spirit. Purich Publishing Limited.Belmore, R. (2011). The Blanket.[Plug in ICA, Hudson’s Bay blanket]. Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.Betasamosake Simpson, L. (2020). As we have always done: Indigenous freedom through radical resistance. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.Betasamosake Simpson, L. (2014). Land as pedagogy: Nishnaabeg intelligence and rebellioustransformation. Decolonization: Indigeneity, Education & Society, 3(3), 1-25.Chambers, C., Hasebe-Ludt, E., Donald, D., Hurren, W., Leggo, C. & Oberg, A. (2008).Métissage. In A. Cole & J. Knowles (Eds). Handbook of the arts in qualitativeresearch: Perspectives, methodologies, examples, and issues(pp. 141-153). Sage.Decter, L., & Isaac, J. (2010-2016). (official denial) trade value in progress. [Hudson’s Bay blankets, waxed thread, yarn, beads]. Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.Donald, D. T. (2009). Forts, curriculum, and Indigenous Métissage: Imagining decolonization of Aboriginal-Canadian relations in educational contexts. First Nations Perspectives, 2(1), 1-14.Donald, D.T. (2012). Indigenous Métissage: A decolonizing researchsensibility. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 25(5), 533-555, DOI:10.1080/09518398.2011.554449Favell, R. (1999). I awoke to find my spirit had returned. [Digital print]: https://resilienceproject.ca/en/artists/rosalie-favell#:~:text=In%20one%20of%20my%20adventures,I%20question%20where%20home%20isGovernment of Canada. (1991). Broadcasting Act S.C 199, 11. [Retrieved on July 28, 2022]: https://www.laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/b-9.01/FullText.htmlHasebe-Ludt, E., Chambers, C., & Leggo, C. (2009). Life writing and literary metissage as an ethos for our times.Peter Lang.Hogan, S., McCracken, K., & Eidinger, A. (2019, January 14). How and when to invite Indigenous speakers to the classroom. Active History. [Retrieved on July 30, 2022]: https://activehistory.ca/2019/01/how-and-when-to-invite-indigenous-speakers-to-the-classroom/#commentsIrwin, R.L. (2004). A/r/tography: A metonymic métissage. In R.L. Irwin & A. de Cosson (Eds.). A/r/tography: Rendering self through arts-based living inquiry(pp.27-40). Pacific Educational Press.King, T. (2008). The truth about stories: A native narrative. University of Minnesota Press.Koostachin, J. (2017). NiiSoTeWak. [Film]. VisJuelles Productions Inc.Koostachin, J. (2019). OshKikIShiKaw: A new day. [Film]. VisJuelles Productions Inc.
LeBlanc, N., & Irwin, R.L. (2019). A/r/tography. In G. Noblit (Ed.). Oxford Encyclopedia of Qualitative Research Methods in Education. (pp.1-21). Oxford University Press. DOI: 10.1093/acrefore/9780190264093.013.393Leddy, S. (2019). Learning to see art as a pedagogical practice. Unpublished manuscript. Vancouver, BC: UBC.Leddy, S., & Turner, S.R. (2016). Sharpening the focus: Two voices on Aboriginal pedagogy. Journal of the Canadian Association for Curriculum studies, 14(2), 10-20.Liboiron, M. (2019, August 12).Decolonizing your syllabus? You might have missed some steps: Decolonizing your syllabus is different than including some Indigenous writers on the reading schedule. Civic Laboratory for Environmental Action Research: https://civiclaboratory.nl/2019/08/12/decolonizing-your-syllabus-you-might-have-missed-some-steps/McDonald, F. (2012). Woollen blankets in contemporary art: Mutable and mobile materials in the work of Sonny Assu. Material Culture Review, 76(1), 108-116.Mezirow, J. (2003). Transformative learning as discourse.Journal of transformative education,1(1), 58-63.Morin, P., Martine, R., & Robinson, M. (2012). Carrying on“irregardless: Humour in contemporary northwest coast art. Harbour PublishingNational Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. (2019). Reclaiming power and place: The final report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous women and girls., Vol 1a.Neskantaga First Nation. (2022, June 19). Neskantaga FN mark 10,000 day in boil water advisory. [Press release]: http://www.matawa.on.ca/neskantaga-first-nation-mark-10000-day-in-boil-water-advisory/Obomsawin, A. (1993). Kanehsatake: 270 years of resistance. [Film]. National Film Board of Canada.Obomsawin, A. (2012). The people of the Kattawapiskak river. [Film]. National Film Board of Canada.Obomsawin, A. (2017). Our people will be healed.[Film]. National Film Board of Canada.Pinar, W. F. (2009). The worldliness of a cosmopolitan education: Passionate lives in public service.Routledge.Pinar, W.F., & Grumet, M. (1976). Toward a poor curriculum. Kendall/Hunt.Pittman, B. (1989). Where the spirit lives [Film]. Screen Door Production.Pryer, A. (2004). Living with/in marginal spaces: intellectual nomadism and artist/researcher/teacher praxis. In R. L. Irwin & A. de Cosson (Eds.), A/r/tography: rendering self through arts-based living inquiry(pp. 198-213). Pacific Educational Press.Shilling, A., Miller, L., & Leddy, S. (2021). A métissage manifesto for decolonizing the academy. In E. Lyle, & S. Mahani (Eds). Sister scholars: Untangling issues of identity as women in academe. (pp.21-30). DIO Press.Supernaut, K., & Carleton, S. (2022, June 3).Fighting ‘denialists’ for the truth about unmarked graves and residential schooling. CBC:https://www.cbc.ca/news/opinion/opinion-residential-schools-unmarked-graves-denialism-1.6474429Taylor, D.H. (2015). Me artsy. Douglas & McIntyre.
The Bay. (2020). HBC x Barbie 350thanniversary: HBC stripes Barbie doll limited edition. [Retrieved on July 31, 2022]: https://www.thebay.com/product/hudsons-bay-company-hbc-x-barbie-350th-anniversary-hbc-stripes-barbie-doll---limited-edition-0600091432723.htmlTruth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. (2015). Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada: Calls to action.[Retrieved on July 28, 2022]:https://ehprnh2mwo3.exactdn.com/wpcontent/uploads/2021/01/Calls_to_Action_English2.pdfTuck, E. (2013). Neoliberalism as nihilism? A commentary on educational accountability, teacher education and school reform. Journal for Critical Education Policy Studies. 11(2), 324-347.Tuck, E., & Yang, K.W. (2012). Decolonization is not a metaphor. Decolonization: Indigeneity, Education & Society. 1(1), 1-40.Wiart, N. (2016, December 16). HBC’s ‘Colonial Barbie’ comes with some baggage: The toy, emblazoned in the Hudson’s Bay Company’s iconic colours, is a hot-ticket reminder of a colonial past. Maclean’s:https://www.macleans.ca/society/hbcs-colonial-barbie-comes-with-some-baggage/