Original Graphite Drawing on Paper,
January 2020.
I’ve been dreaming about this drawing for a long time, and lately I’ve been noticing cans everywhere that remind me of this memory. Finally, I took them as a sign to get this on paper.
When I was a kid, my family began attending ceremonies on Manitoulin Island and North Shore. As learners, my Dad and I would either help as a fire keeper, door man, as a Shkaabewis(Helper).
Often I would be at the door way to the lodge and would make sure everyone who entered smudged themselves with this can fitted with a long wire handle.
Long story short, this can reminds me of important lessons, memories, spirituality, family, purpose, cultural training and Anishinaabe identity.
This is the first drawing I produced in 2020 as part of my Exhibition, “Enji’Baa’yaang Do’Makwendaan (Collection of Memories: Where I am From) at the Ojibwe Cultural Foundation in M’Chigeeng, Ontario.