For Indigenous artist, facilitator, speaker and curator Christine Mackenzie, art workshops have the opportunity to connect communities through teaching about Indigenous culture and artwork and healing intergenerational trauma.

To that end, the Kwakiutl Nation, Eagle Clan artist will be hosting Finding Your Voice: National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, a free workshop at the Place des Arts, for the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation on Sept. 30.

The event offers attendees the chance to learn more about Indigenous culture and art – and the opportunity to take an art piece home as a reminder of the event. But Mackenzie stresses that the day shouldn’t only be seen as a vacation, but rather an opportunity to reflect on the challenge and importance of Indigenous allyship.

“This process should make you uncomfortable, which is normal. Being a continuous ally is not supposed to be comfortable” she says.

Changing the narrative through art

For Mackenzie, organizing these workshops have a very deep meaning for her, allowing her to share her voice, perspective and experiences as an Indigenous woman with people through her artwork.

She highlights the importance of sharing the voices of Indigenous women in order to speak out on issues including missing and murdered Indigenous women, the generational effects of the Residential School system, and what she says is a continuation of its legacy within the modern foster care system.

“I am sharing my knowledge and culture through my art because knowledge is power. My goal is to change the culture and the narrative… I am bridging my perspective to these communities through my artwork and workshops.” she says. “There are so many other things that still need to be changed, and we need to be proactive about it everyday, not just one day. Wearing an orange shirt one day and not being proactive the other days is not enough.”

The silencing of Indigenous voices continues to persist as a modern issue, rooted in a deep colonial history. Mackenzie reflects on events where people would stereotype her, and call her names such as “savage.” It’s moments like this that inspire her workshops to discuss how words can hurt – even the ones we say to ourselves.

When she is working with kids, she encourages them to say one good thing about themselves, aiming to contribute to the process of healing generational trauma that Indigenous children often experience, and teaching them self-confidence and self-love.

“In Indigenous culture kids are considered as sacred, and it is important to generationally heal from trauma that will start at a young age. I am doing workshops such as this one so that the next generation can have a better life,” says Mackenzie.

Christine says that she is trying to show and teach Indigenous culture to her son through a collaborative art-making process, fostering a knowledge of artistic styles and features of different forms of Indigenous arts, as well as the cultural importance of animals including the eagle, thunderbird, bear and more.

For Mackenzie, this workshop serves to create space to ask genuine questions and receive genuine answers, while allowing attendees to find their voice. She mentions the importance, in art and in life, of having a “decolonized mindset,” where it is okay to make mistakes, and that mistakes aren’t equal to failure.

“The strength that I have is because of my mom and dad, my family supports me and my ancestors while I travel on this journey. I practice traditional teaching because my ancestors couldn’t and fought for the teaching to survive. And so much of the culture has been destroyed, but we are still here. I am still here.” she says.

For more information about Mackenzie and her art, visit: www.instagram.com/sneakynativeart

For more about the event, visit: https://placedesarts.ca/events/finding-your-voice-national-day-for-truth-and-reconciliation