II.

Shame and Prejudice

Jolene Rickard asserts that "[t]here is a need to expand art criticism and visual theory to include a discourse read across Indigeneity, colonization, and sovereignty...informed scholars and critics would understand how to discuss Indigenous visual culture within a framework of sovereignty with an understanding of the unique legal position Indigenous nations have in relationship to settler colonial nations in addition to the discourse around decolonization." 

Walking through this exhibition I was aware of my movement, as I navigated through the visual and tactile representation of a history of colonization. Following the chapters, I paused when I came Chapter 3: Wards of the State. This was the story of the leader that formed my band and community.  I had never seen any story about my community told, or even acknowledged in such a space. In an institutional space. I am not implying that the institution gives legitimacy to Indigenous history and storytelling. I am expressing how this was such an odd and emotional moment for me. I came to the realization that I have been so naturalized to seeing settler experiences in these spaces. To come across this, the history of my people, was a shock. 

Native people know this history. They have lived it. Although these stories of colonization were heart-wrenching and painful to experience, by giving them space, I think that Monkman discusses this history within a framework of sovereignty.

This work was inspired by Kent Monkman's Shame and Prejudice: A Story of Resilience. 

Chapter 3: Wards of the State.

Kent Monkman, The Subjugation of Truth, 2016.

Poundmaker's Moccasins, 1875-1890. 

Shame--a repression of the self

affect, an effect

of isolation, a denial of Indigeneity 

Shame

embodied.

Who decides what stories are shared? Why can't the layers of differing stories coexist?

Narratives are obsessed with binaries.

right/wrong

woman/man

Indigenous/settler

They are so ingrained in our systems that they start to become a part of us. Sculpted into our beings, onto our bodies. So invisible, sometimes they are impossible to locate.

Shame--the food that is force-fed

shoved into my mouth

scrapes down my esophagus

and is left to fester in my gut.

Shame--I am going to cut you out of my being

wretch until my insides are free.

I will convert you, as you did me.