Beatrice Deer took the floor first and went into detail regarding the various types of art forms she has explored over the years including, costume design, music, fine art, literature and sewing. Deer hails from Quaqtaq, Nunabik and has resided in Montreal for the past 11 years. She previously sat on the board for the Inuit Art Foundation alongside fellow speaker of the evening, Heather Igloliorte, and Deer received the award herself in 2016.

Igloliorte, an Inuk scholar and independent curator, as well as Co-Director of the Initiative for Indigenous Futures Cluster, discussed how the issue of a lack of Indigenous recognition affects us all, regardless of our respective backgrounds. She highlighted the difficulties in creating a comprehensive learning program, explaining, “even in courses where Indigenous art is meant to encompass a broad range of artistic practices, there’s not a lot of specialization or understanding, […] First Nations colleagues,” she said “have said to me that they’re not really comfortable teaching art because they never studied it when they were at school or they don’t see it in exhibitions in the same way [as non First-Nations people].”

Igloliorte discussed at length the irony within promoting and displaying Inuit and Indigenous art: “we have these collections of Inuit art in almost every museum and gallery in this country as well as a whole bunch of galleries all over the world […] and yet in this country there’s never been a permanent full time Inuk employed in a museum.” Universities offering courses in Inuit and Indigenous art exist exclusively in the South of Canada. The North, in contrast, possesses no universities at all, just a few colleges. “Canada is the only Arctic country that does not have a university in the Arctic,” Igloliorte explained.

Deer spoke about being “very influenced by [her] culture” and how she “writes mostly in Inuktitut as that is [her] first language and that’s the one [she] is most confident expressing herself [in].” Deer and the other panelists all shared the sentiment that their art is as much about improving the rights for Indigenous populations and educating others, as it is about self-discovery.

Nancy Saunders, who is professionally known as Niap, is a visual artist from Kuujjuaq, Nunavik. Her pseudonym comes from a mispronunciation of the Inuktitut word for older sister. Saunders, who provided an opening speech in her mother tongue of Inuktitut, spoke of her transition from figurative and literal work into the abstract. She described this journey in terms of her self expression and self-realization of her heritage.

“When I was growing up in the South I was very much ashamed of who I was,” Saunders moved from her home town of Kuujjuaq at the age of 12. Saunders stated that her initial work focused predominantly on the literal representation of “who [the Inuit] are with the traditional clothing and such, and then [she] started learning about the mythology […] stories about transformations, and metamorphoses.” Of her art, she said, “I just kind of share what I think is beautiful from my culture and I want to share the stories and these things that I am discovering — I want other people to discover them at the same time as I am.” Saunders demonstrated this period of self-discovery and evolution by showcasing several examples of her work. She presented a life-like drawing with a section of three dimensional beadwork, and a stream from her hometown accompanied by a montage of sounds from her home. Saunders stressed greatly the necessity to be “immersed in the piece” and offers this as an explanation for her use of several mediums at once.

Saunders discussed at length the struggles she has faced both internally and externally with the perceptions of what it means to be Inuk. During a sculpting residence in Paris, France, Saunders was faced with having to justify her identity to the people around her. “I wasn’t considered a real Inuk in France, because I lived off second-hand information,” she said, “I wasn’t born in an Igloo, I have pale skin and I have green eyes and I didn’t live with a dog sled or anything like that, so I struggled every day to justify what it means to be Inuit.” This sense of internalized shame was similarly expressed by Nina Segalowitz. Born Anne-Marie Thrasher in Fort Smith Northwest Territories, Segalowitz was stolen from her parents at the age of seven months during the Sixties scoop. The Sixties scoop refers to the wide-scale national apprehension of Indigenous children by childwelfare agencies to place them in non-Indigenous homes in Canada, the US, and even overseas. The practice began in the 1950’s and lasted until the mid to late 80’s.

This traumatic displacement was instrumental in Segalowitz’s journey to self-discovery. Through the outlets of music and spoken word, she has been able to start to reconcile her heritage with the way she grew up. “I still feel anxiety,” she said, “I always felt like I was playing a part [growing up in her Filipino-Jewish family […] I always felt like people had a list of things they wanted me to do — they wanted me to go to a private girls’ school, I went to a private girls’ school, they wanted me to pray in Hebrew, I prayed in Hebrew […] I felt like I was always constantly meeting other people’s expectations of me.”

“Throat singing was a way for me to heal that hole in my heart and my spirit, and when I do it I feel transported in time. Every time I learn a new song, the government loses again”.

Speaking after the event, Patricia Johnson-Castle, whose family is from the Indigenous community of Nunatsiavut in Labrador, explained the importance of this event: “[Indigenous people] are so multitalented and it’s only […] in the past little while that people are getting the recognition that they deserve based on their talent”. Johnson-Castle also spoke at length about her hesitations with Indigenous art being placed in galleries: “the way that those pieces of Inuit art have gotten into museums all over the world is also part of this greater project of the Canadian government [saying] ‘you are useful in this way.’”

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Typhoon Mangkhut (Ompong), a category 5 hurricane, struck the Cordillera region of the Luzon province in Philippines on September 15. As of September 19, the death toll has risen to 81 with another 59 reported missing. Authorities predict that the number of fatalities could easily hit triple digits. According to Francis Tolentino, senior advisor to the Filipino President Rodrigo Duterte, 5.7 million people were effected nationwide. The typhoon has now crossed into the Yunnan Province, weakening in intensity due to the mountainous region. With regards to those missing, the mayor of Itogon, Victorio Palangdan, believes there is a “99 per cent [chance] that they really are all dead.” Itogon is the most severely affected area, suffering 66 casualties.

Many people killed in Itogon were independent miners that had been illegally mining on the site of Antamok. Mining company Benguet Corp abandoned Antamok in the 1990s over concerns of environmental degradation; however, thousands still mined illegally. The workers claimed to have obtained permission to mine from Benguet Corp, but the company has since denied this. As a result of poor mining practices, mountain slopes have become prone to destabilization, leaving the terrain more susceptible to landslides following heavy rain. On September 20, a village in the city of Naga experienced heavy rains which caused a landslide resulting in the deaths of 12 people. President Duterte and his government are considering enforcing stricter regulations on mining in the country in order to try and limit future damages associated with these risks.

Berta Cáceres Murder Trial Delayed

The first of the two trials investigating the death of Berta Cáceres has been postponed. The trial, originally scheduled for September, was delayed due to the chaos caused by a formal allegation of corruption and abuse of authority levelled against the three judges set to preside over the case. Cáceres, formally the coordinator of the Council of Popular and Indigenous Organisations of Honduras, (COPINH), was murdered in La Esperanza, West Honduras on March 2, 2016 at the age of 44. She protested against the installation of a dam in her home country of Honduras, an issue she had been publicly opposed to since the project was announced in 2011. As the coordinator and media figurehead for COPINH, Cáceres campaigned against the internationally funded dam on the Gualcarque River.

The trial will also hear the charge of attempted murder on Cáceres’ fellow environmental activist Gustavo Castro. In accordance with Honduras law, dismissals and replacements of the judiciary staff will be released within the 72 hours following the adjournment. Eight men were anticipated to stand trial in these particular proceedings, two of whom are in fact employees of Deserrollos Energeticos (DESA), the company responsible for the damn project. Another suspect is set to stand in a separate trial at an undetermined date. Despite these nine men facing charges, the family of Cáceres have expressed considerable doubt over whether all of the “intellectual authors” of her brutal killing have been caught.

Toronto City Council to Be Cut in Half

On September 19, Ontario’s top court ruled in favour of a stay allowing for the reduction of the City of Toronto’s Municipal Council, and the elimination of Regional Chair elections in several municipalities across the province. Bill 5, introduced by Ontario’s Progressive Conservative provincial government, would reduce the electoral map from the current 47 wards to just 25, effectively reducing seats on council by half. The ruling comes just a month ahead of the upcoming municipal elections to be held October 22.

The announcement was made in late July, on the last day to register as a candidate. Legislation was proposed by Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s government in early September, inciting confusion as to potential implications for voters and candidates. With election campaigns already underway in 47 wards, Ontario Superior Court Justice Edward Belobaba found the bill to be in violation of freedom of expression rights for both candidates and voters, and deemed Bill 5 unconstitutional. Subsequently, Ford took the decision to invoke the notwithstanding clause (Section 33 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms). The rarely-invoked clause allows portions of the Charter to be overridden and for judicial review to be nullified. The decision was largely met with negative backlash, and has been called both “unnecessary and unprecedented.” The current mayor of Toronto, John Tory, opposed the move taking place mid-election. The current stay issued by the provincial supreme court invalidates all concerns raised by the “lower court ruling.” According to the Toronto elections site, the new ward map will be available shortly.

In the final judges’ ruling, they stated that “while the change brought about by Bill 5 is undoubtedly frustrating for candidates who started campaigning in May 2018, we are not persuaded that their frustration amounts to a substantial interference with their freedom of expression.” Opponents to the council slashing have raised concerns over the representation of women and people of colour on the Council, two major Toronto demographics that are already disproportionately underrepresented in the current 47-ward council structure.

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