Christi Belcourt‘s beaded jacket accompanied by Claire Johnston
Aanikoobijiganag: Thunder Bay Beading Symposium Review
By Claire Johnston
Viewer discretion is advised: Please be advised that there is an image of the moose hide included in the article that may be interpreted as graphic by some viewers.
In February of this year (2024), the Thunder Bay Art Gallery hosted Aanikoobijiganag: Thunder Bay Beading Symposium during the run of Radical Stitch (MacKenzie Art Gallery), one of the largest beadwork exhibitions ever, showcasing the brilliance of contemporary Indigenous beadwork of North America. Curated by the Matriarchal leadership of Sherry Farrell Racette, Michelle LaVallee, and Cathy Mattes, the exhibition recently won “Outstanding Achievement” at the 2024 Canadian Museums Association Awards. This was my first time attending a beading symposium, with previous symposia taking place in both Regina (2022) and Winnipeg (2020). It was my first time seeing Radical Stitch as well, an experience I’ve only dreamed of due to the exhibition’s inclusion of Métis women who have profoundly impacted me, most notably my mentor and Master Métis Beadwork Artist Jennine Krauchi.
Aanikoobijiganag brought together roughly 40 emerging and established beadwork artists, Elders, children, curators, and Knowledge Keepers from across so-called Canada. With the leadership of renowned Anishinaabe artist and traditional practitioner Jean Marshall, the three-day gathering boasted an incredible lineup of local Indigenous Knowledge Carriers to provide workshops and panel discussions. Instructors included artists such as Shannon Gustofson, Kanina Terry, Nico Williams, and Jean Marshall, amongst others. Interest in Aanikoobijiganag was so high that online registrations for the symposium sold out within a 24-hour period. As our Nations continue to reclaim and build our material art traditions back from the violent effects of colonization, these types of relationship-building and knowledge-sharing gatherings will only steadily increase in demand.
My personal intention in attending Aanikoobijiganag was reciprocal in nature. As a Red River Métis beadwork artist, I was excited to forge new relationships through visiting and creating together. I came with my gifts packed (tobacco, beadwork, knowledge) and was excited to see what gifts I’d receive over the three days (new relationships, knowledge). As a novice hide tanner, I was looking forward to the opportunity to connect with Anishinaabe and Anishininew Knowledge Keepers like Amber Sandy, Kanina Terry, and Meagan Anishinaabe, whose land-based knowledges and community work have been deeply inspiring to me.
I was also interested in dreaming about collective power. How we can dream for the next generation?
During an evening panel discussion, curator Cathy Mattes spoke about how the name for Radical Stitch was chosen:
Despite everything … the shame and the attempted forced assimilation … [beadwork] continued. This beauty, this mapping of the land and our kinship ties, and speaking to the now, speaking to the personal, speaking to Indigenous knowledge systems, and really beautifully securing them for oneself in beadwork. That is radical.
My experience at Aanikoobijiganag was radical. Through a birchbark workshop, I learned from Anishinaabe Elder Gail Bannon that it is okay to start life over again in order to more fully honour your gifts/ In a presentation by Anishinaabe beadwork artist Nico Williams, he shared how he uses his studio to capacity-build other artists. And during a panel discussion, Anishinaabe beadwork artist/designer Jaymie Campbell reminded me that I don’t need to do everything, like the colonial world demands of me. Gathering together and sharing stories with similarly gifted Indigenous women and Two-Spirit folk was radical. During the weekend, I participated in a quillwork workshop with Jean Marshall, a birchbark basket workshop with Gail Bannon, and an edge beading workshop with Shannon Gustofson. Being Autistic, I knew it would be too overstimulating for me to attend the evening reception of Radical Stitch, but I heard from others that it was a lovely evening. I was overwhelmed at the Thunder Bay Art Gallery’s kind offer for me to view the exhibition alone before opening hours on the last day of the symposium. I was so grateful for that incredibly intimate experience. I walked through slowly, taking my time with each piece of beadwork, living relatives. Smiling and laughing. But mostly crying. Crying at how beautiful and powerful and resilient we are. I am thankful for my gifts as an Autistic person, which make me sensitive to my surroundings. Unfortunately, moments like these are few and far between, where both my access needs and my gifts are honoured.
My final gifts were given and received on Sunday of the beading symposium in Thunder Bay. During a closing giveaway, I was honoured to gift a young Anishinaabewke a pair of antique smoked moose hide wraps, which her mother told me she will wear while dancing fancy shawl for the first time this summer. When I thought I’d received all the gifts I would, the land had yet even more abundance for me. I was driving back home to Winnipeg about 45 minutes outside of Thunder Bay. I was jamming to tunes, buzzing with ideas and excitement for the future. When I got to Thunder Bay earlier that week, I put tobacco down on the land and asked the land and my ancestors to help me. To speak with the right people, to share in the right way, to keep me safe.
As I drove down the #1 highway on Sunday, I passed a large ribcage carcass on the side of the road with about 15 ravens on top. I drove for about two minutes before my spirit told me to turn around. I went back to the spot and pulled over. I walked out with tobacco in hand and noticed due to the size, it must be a moose. I was hoping that maybe I could harvest some sinew. To my shock, there laid a ribcage and a fresh moose hide only, perfectly skinned and still warm. I cried and thanked the land. I folded the hide up and set it in the back of my partner’s car (love you Fred ha!) and drove straight to my father who lives just outside of Kenora in Treaty 3. We fleshed the moose hide together the next day, while I listened to my dad tell me stories of his time working in Thunder Bay when he was my age, still finding his path too.
With beading symposiums like Aanikoobijiganag, with exhibitions like Radical Stitch, and with nervy Indigenous women who won’t stop until all of our gifts are honoured in the circle, the conditions needed for our ancestor’s wildest beadwork dreams are being built.
Radical Stitch can be seen at the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa from May 16th, 2024 until Sept 30th, 2024.
Claire Johnston is a Two-Spirit and Autistic Red River Métis visual artist based in Winnipeg/Treaty 1 Territory. Inspired by the legacy of Métis Grandmothers, Claire engages in relational making by studying the lives of her Métis woman ancestors, their kin, and their associated beadwork and material art practices. Claire is a mentee of Master Métis Beader Jennine Krauchi, and recently exhibited her largest-scale Métis beadwork piece yet at the Centennial Concert Hall during the run of Li Keur, the first-ever full-scale Indigenous Opera in North America (Manitoba Opera).
Claire’s work has been exhibited at The Bill Ried Gallery of Northwest Coast Art, (Vancouver 22’), Tangled Arts (Toronto 22’), Venice Biennale of Architecture (Venice 23’), and Festival du Voyageur (Winnipeg 24’).
In September 2024, Claire will showcase their beadwork and other multi-media creations at their inaugural solo show in Winnipeg with the support of the Arts AccessAbility Network Manitoba. Urban Shaman Contemporary Aboriginal Art (Winnipeg) will host Claire and three other Two-Spirit Michif artists in Spring 2025, for the upcoming show ‘I’ll share my medicines if you don’t have enough room for yours’
Claire is a Sundancer, a student of traditional hide tanning, an Auntie, a Helper, and an MMF citizen with membership with the Two-Spirit Michif Local.
