I.
Preface
ARTH 642 – Aspects of Media and New Media: Entering Public Space armed With Indigenous Methodologies and Curatorial Practices
The first day of this seminar I realized that, out of the 19 years that I have been in school, this was the first time that I have ever had an Indigenous professor. I was left stunned. What an absurd realization. Thinking back, I began to wonder: what would have my elementary education been like, my high school classes, and my undergraduate experience if I were to have had Indigenous instructors?
I had my first Indigenous art history course in the fourth out of my five years as an undergraduate. The theme of the course was Arts of the Northwest Coast Peoples: The North. While I enjoyed learning, the course was taught by an anthropologist and curator settler as opposed to an Indigenous instructor. Moreover, I could not understand why we had so many Indigenous guest speakers and yet the instructor was a settler. I am not saying that this instructor was/is not an ally; they had great relationships with the surrounding Indigenous communities. Although, what I am questioning is why the university did not employ an Indigenous person to speak about Indigenous art and culture. Why is it, that quite often, non-Indigenous people are employed to talk about Indigeneity when there are Indigenous peoples that are more than "qualified" to do so? How was I supposed to learn about sovereignty, embodied knowledge, relationships to the land (a few themes among many) from this person?
The following entries are recollections and reflections from my navigations: art in the city of Tiohtiá:ke/Montreal and my first (Indigenous) course taught by an Indigenous professor.
ARTH 642 – Aspects of Media and New Media: Entering Public Space armed With Indigenous Methodologies and Curatorial Practices
The first day of this seminar I realized that, out of the 19 years that I have been in school, this was the first time that I have ever had an Indigenous professor. I was left stunned. What an absurd realization. Thinking back, I began to wonder: what would have my elementary education been like, my high school classes, and my undergraduate experience if I were to have had Indigenous instructors?
I had my first Indigenous art history course in the fourth out of my five years as an undergraduate. The theme of the course was Arts of the Northwest Coast Peoples: The North. While I enjoyed learning, the course was taught by an anthropologist and curator settler as opposed to an Indigenous instructor. Moreover, I could not understand why we had so many Indigenous guest speakers and yet the instructor was a settler. I am not saying that this instructor was/is not an ally; they had great relationships with the surrounding Indigenous communities. Although, what I am questioning is why the university did not employ an Indigenous person to speak about Indigenous art and culture. Why is it, that quite often, non-Indigenous people are employed to talk about Indigeneity when there are Indigenous peoples that are more than "qualified" to do so? How was I supposed to learn about sovereignty, embodied knowledge, relationships to the land (a few themes among many) from this person?
The following entries are recollections and reflections from my navigations: art in the city of Tiohtiá:ke/Montreal and my first (Indigenous) course taught by an Indigenous professor.
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