The Bear and The Buffalo

The idea behind The Bear and The Buffalo came about when I was offered the incredible opportunity to produce a work of Art for an Indigenous Healing Centre.

As a Settler, my knowledge of Indigenous People has been limited at best. Growing up in Quebec, we were taught that "our" history started when Jacques Cartier 'discovered' land, completely omitting that it had been occupied for thousands of years before. As a child I lived several streets away from the First Nation Reserve of Uashat and I knew absolutely nothing of their Nation. When we asked about "them", a community that occupied half of our town, the grown-ups freely sprinkled their responses with racial tropes and reinforced every possible negative stereotype about Indigenous individuals. I left that place when I went to university and never returned. As an adult, after I began my personal education about Indigenous Nations and colonization, I reflected on my childhood.  I am ashamed to admit that it was only several years ago that I realized the people living next to me, on whose land I grew up, are actually Nitassinan (Innu) people - we called them Montagnais (Mountain People) https://www.itum.qc.ca/. The collective level of ignorance that I grew up in is appalling. The whole history of colonization is irrefutably awful and embarrassing.

I now live on a different part of Turtle Island, on the traditional territory of the Anishinabewaki, Haudenosaunee and Mississaugas peoples (Native-Land.ca). This project was very meaningful to me because it gave me another opportunity to learn about the rich and vast history of these nations. It allowed me to reflect on our collective past, my role in the present, and how I can honour the culture of the Nations that occupied this land for millennia before me. We have so much to learn and to repair. I am grateful that I was given the opportunity to create this art, and I offer it out of sincere respect.

When I asked the members of the Healing Centre what animal they would like for me to work with, they said either a bear or a buffalo would be nice. There was significance and meaning to both animals, and they left it to me to decide. That made it easy -- why not both?

My art is created through my lens, as a settler who grew up in a remote northern community, and has experienced moments of poor mental health. I use my art for healing and when I share it, I hope others will find healing as well. The only goal I had when I created The Bear and The Buffalo was to provide the onlooker with a moment of peace, allowing their worries to float a world away!