Iorihowá:nen tsi nonkwá:ti ne Onkwehón:we raoná:wen art aorihwà:ke ne kí:ken tsi niiawénhseron Onkwehón:we wa’thontierónnion raotihén:ton ne ákte’ nithonenónhseron tánon ratihnakèn:ra, sénha ki’ tsi nonkwá:ti ne tehontierónnions art aorihwà:ke. Kwah wa’thon’nikonhrhá:ren tsi ronnéhrhahkwe ahonterihwahtentià:thake’ tsi nihotirihò:ten’s tánon entà:’on ratihnakèn:ra raotihén:ton tsi tkahswen’karáhere wa’thontierónnion ne aontahoti’nikonhraié:rite’ tsi ní:tsi teionkhikà:nere. Tsi nonkwá:ti ne Sovereign Acts II, raoná:wen arts wáhontste’ tsi wahatirihwáia’ke tsi niionkhiierà:se ne ratihnarà:ken tánon ónhka ohén:ton tehshakotitáhston. Ítso raotiio’ténhsera tsi nonkwá:ti ne tóhka na’tekaià:sere tsi niiawénhseron ne ‘Teiontierónnions Onkwehón:we’ aorihwà:ke ne ki’ aonsakakwatá:ko tsi niká:ien a’é:ren iontatia’tenhawíhton tánon iontkahthóhtha iontatón:ni teiontierónnions ne ki’ naón:ton kahsótshera, artist, tánon onkwehón:we aonsaión:ton. Nè:’e ò:ni’ kén:ton tsi ká:ien ótia’ke nonkwehón:we tsi nihotirihò:ten’s onwa’kéha art iewéhtha sok iowénhte tsi niiawénhseron enwá:ton.

Iah nek té: tsi nonkwá:ti ne ratihnakèn:ra tsi nihotikarò:ten’s tethonte’nienstenhstáhkhwa tsi rontate’néhstha ne roná:wen arts tsi niká:ien Sovereign Acts II tehontierónnions nek tsi nè:’e ò:ni’ tsi nonkwá:ti tsi nihotirihò:ten’s ne ronónha tsi nithoné:nen tánon raononkwe’ta’shòn:’a. Tsi nikarihò:ten’s tánon tsi nikaianerensherò:ten’s karihwáia’ks ne tewatierónnion tánon ò:ni’ awehiahráhtshera tánon kanonhweratónhtshera tewatkà:was. Nè:’e tewatkà:was tsi nahò:ten ska’nikonhrhèn:’en tánon wátstha kanonwí:io’s tsi enkarihwáia’ke tsi ní:ioht tsi ratihnakén:ra enhatikaratónnion ne ionkwe’taié:nen, teiaonkwe’tanòn:iani, kaia’tóntion tánon watia’tahtòn:’on. Sovereign Act í:ken norihwiio’ón:we.

Wanda Nanibush, ionterihwatsterístha

The history of Indigenous Peoples performing for international and colonial audiences is an important part of Indigenous art generally, and performance art specifically. The Indigenous performers faced the conundrum of maintaining traditional cultural practices by performing them on stage while also having that performance fulfill the desires of a colonial imaginary. In Sovereign Acts II, the artists contend with the legacy of colonial actions and representations. Their work returns to the multi-leveled history of ‘Performing Indian’ to recuperate the erased and objectified performer as an ancestor, an artist, and an Indigenous subject. It also means there are Indigenous traditions of performance that feed contemporary art and form an alternative art history.

The artists in Sovereign Acts II are not just defining themselves from in/outside colonial histories but also from within ever-changing traditions of family, home, people, and territory. Performance is an act of cultural and political resistance as well as of remembrance and commemoration. It offers glimpses of a forgotten past, and uses creative fiction as a force against colonial narratives of capture, savagery, loss and disappearance. A truly Sovereign Act.

Wanda Nanibush, curator

This presentation is an augmented version of an exhibition first produced and presented in 2012 at the Justina M. Barnicke Gallery, University of Toronto.

Anishinaabe konnón:kwe tsi niiotirihò:tens iehá:wi tánon owén:na ionterí:ios ne Wanda Nanibush Beausoleil First Nation nitiakawé:non. Canadian and Indigenous art Art Gallery of Ontario nonkwá:ti tekénihaton ohén:ton í:iente iakoteríhonte ne kwah ó:nenk. Masters iehá:wi ne Visual Studies aorihwà:ke University of Toronto nitiakóha. Graduate courses ronwatirihonnién:ni tsi nonkwá:ti ne tsi niiawénsheron, tsi nikaianerensherò:tens tánonn art University of Toronto nón:we. Tkarón:to nón:we tienákere ne Nanibush.

Wanda Nanibush is an Anishinaabe-kwe image and word warrior from the Beausoleil First Nation. She is currently the assistant curator of Canadian and Indigenous art at the Art Gallery of Ontario. She holds a Masters in Visual Studies from the University of Toronto. She teaches graduate courses on history, politics and art at the University of Toronto. Nanibush lives in Toronto.