A2. Identities
Specific Expectations
A2.1
analyse the role of spiritual identity in First Nations, Métis, and Inuit world views, drawing on evidence from several different art forms and arts disciplines (e.g., Inuit drum dancing expresses the spiritual nature of the performer’s identity; beliefs about transformation between spirit forms, or identities, are embodied in copper and silver carvings of birds with human features; radiating lines incorporated in stone and bone carvings represent the connections between humans and spiritual forces, conveying the spiritual nature of humankind; a variety of art forms use circles to represent the interconnection of the human life cycle and other natural life cycles and to remind individuals to strive for spiritual balance in all aspects of their existence; symbolic spiritual helpers, such as the thunderbird, are depicted in the art forms of many cultures)
- What is spiritual identity? How does your experience of First Nations, Métis, and Inuit art forms help you understand the concept of spiritual identity? Why do you think art is central to the expression of First Nations, Métis, and Inuit spiritual identities?
- Why is the circle a dominant symbol in First Nations cultural art forms? What other symbols represent the belief, prevalent in many First Nations world views, that all of creation is connected to a spiritual life force?”
A2.2
describe various ways in which materials, colours, and symbols are used in First Nations, Métis, and Inuit art forms to express aspects of individual and/or collective identity, analysing some regional and cultural similarities and differences (e.g., materials: members of the Bear clan may use bear hide and claws in clothing designs; the use of birch bark and/or birch bark designs in various art forms may represent the artist’s affiliation with a Woodland nation; the incorporation of whale bone into traditional regalia may reflect the artist’s Arctic or Northwest origins; colours: colour variations and weaving styles are used in Métis sashes to represent specific families and communities; blue is associated with women in traditional Plains hide paintings; specific colours used in beadwork are associated with the wearer’s unique and inherent gifts; symbols: arrows, serpents, floral designs, land formations, and water signs often reflect the elements and characteristics of an individual’s spirit name)
- How do symbols used by First Nations, Métis, and Inuit artists differ from region to region across Canada? How might you explain some of these differences?
- Why do the sun, moon, stars, fish, bears, and turtles play a significant role in many First Nations cultural expressions?
- What cultural or spiritual significance did the First Nation presenter assign to the spirit colours of his or her regalia? How did the regalia reflect the presenter’s cultural identity?
- What materials were traditionally used by Inuit artists and how are they similar to or different from materials used by contemporary Inuit artists? Why do walrus, whales, seals, and birds play a significant role in many Inuit cultural expressions?
A2.3
explain how the form, materials, and/or techniques used in various First Nations, Métis, and Inuit art works/productions have been selected by the artist(s) to express a perspective or communicate a message about gender and gender roles (e.g., describe the techniques used in Shelley Niro’s 1991 photographic series Mohawks in Beehives to document an act of personal empowerment by Mohawk women; explain how Kent Monkman uses the art form of landscape painting to explore concepts of sovereignty and territory while commenting on gender and two-spirited identities in works such as Trappers of Men)
- What is a moccasin vamp? Why do you think this material was selected as a symbol of missing and murdered Indigenous women in the art installation Walking with Our Sisters? How did social media play a role in the production of the work?
A2.4
describe how various First Nations, Métis, and Inuit artists use media arts to express and support Indigeneity, collective and/or cultural identity, decolonization, and cultural continuity (e.g., Métis/Algonquin filmmaker Michelle Latimer uses stop-motion animation to explore the individual search for identity within contemporary urban society from a First Nations perspective; Alderville First Nation poet Leanne Simpson collaboratively sets her poems and spoken-word narratives to music by Indigenous musicians to express what it means to live as an Anishinaabekwe; the travelling photographic exhibition Lost Identities: A Journey of Rediscovery invited members of various First Nations communities to symbolically repatriate the subjects of historical images by recording the names, locations, and details of the individuals and places represented; Inuit media art collective Isuma Productions uses high-definition video and wireless broadband to re-create cultural traditions as the expression of a distinctively Inuit perspective)
- What does the term ‘decolonization’ mean in the context of art works/productions created by and/or for First Nations, Métis, and Inuit youth? What is the connection between decolonization and identity? What are some ways that media arts can be used to reclaim First Nations, Métis, and Inuit cultural identities and express a collective desire for decolonization?
- How do Nadya Kwandibens’ Concrete Indians photographic series and Terrance Houle’s photographic Urban Indian Series express aspects of contemporary urban Indigeneity?