During this Open Studio, Elder Duke Redbird engages visitors in questions around “Our Environment,” focusing on Indigenous perspectives on stemming destruction based on age old practices together with reverence and respect for Mother Earth. Set around Wigwam Chi-Chemung—a 40-foot pontoon houseboat docked at the Ontario Place Marina—the Open Studio session is part of an evolving art installation and Indigenous interpretive learning centre created in partnership with Indigenous intellectual, poet, painter, broadcaster, filmmaker and orator Elder Duke Redbird. Over the summer and fall, visitors have an opportunity to spend time, learn from, and celebrate the Indigenous peoples who historically thrived, sustained and populated the extensive shoreline of Lake Ontario.
Location Notes: This event will take place at the Ontario Place South Marina.
For further information on the process and program around Wigwam Chi-Chemung, please visit: wigwamchichemung.com
Image Credit: “Wigwam Chi-Chemung at Ontario Place.” Photo by Elijah Nichols. Image courtesy of Myseum.
Bio
Elder Duke Redbird (born in 1939, Saugeen First Nation, Canada; lives in Toronto, Canada) is a pillar of First Nations literature in Canada and is an Elder, poet, activist, educator and artist. He occupies the position of Elder at the following organizations: the Myseum of Toronto; the Toronto Biennial; Summer Works; and the Toronto Arts Council’s Banff Leaders Lab. In 2020, Duke was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Toronto-based performing arts organization JAYU to recognize his artistic influence on human rights.