New ‘displacement’ project taps creative expression

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This article was published 04/01/2024 (630 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It was a busy year in 2023 for Aaron McKay, an artist and storyteller from Rolling River First Nation, nestled in the foothills of Riding Mountain National Park.

He started Giiwe Media, a multimedia, art and storytelling business, to document the beauty and richness of Indigenous culture and homecoming journeys.

McKay also hosted the inaugural Gathering of Creations Market, which highlights Indigenous artisans, their art and storytelling at Brandon’s Riverbank Discovery Centre in the fall, while also stepping into his role of vice-chair at the Erickson Food Bank.

In addition, he serves as the Indigenous director for the Wasagaming Chamber of Commerce, is a director of Clear Lake Country, and a member of the Brandon and Erickson chambers of commerce.

Now, McKay and his friend Izzeddin Hawamda, the founder of Gaser-Bridge, an interfaith dialogue group that works to promote awareness, dialogue, and empathy-building regarding Israel and Palestine, are partnering to share their stories with the rest of the country through a project called “WhereWeStand.”

WhereWeStand, a multi-media storytelling collaboration, brings together Indigenous peoples and newcomers to Canada to create expressions of identity regarding the colonial construct of Canada.

It pairs Indigenous and newcomers together to support their storytelling and creative process, which will then be shared with public audiences.

When Hawamda reached out to McKay to ask him to partner with him on the project, McKay thought it was an apt opportunity to share stories about the Indigenous experience with the nation.

“This tells the story of Indigenous individuals, their personal stories and their history, but then also the personal stories and history of newcomers, and what that relationship looks like,” he told the Sun.

An interwoven theme in the project is one of displacement — how Hawamda was displaced from Palestine and how McKay has felt a sense of displacement as an Indigenous person growing up in Canada.

“There’s that added layer of the person being displaced from their home country, and then also kind of feeling like a shadow in their home,” he said.

The projects can include dance, music, theatre, installation, film and other works of creative expression.

It’s open to all undergraduate and graduate students from all Canadian universities.

The program is led by the Toronto Metropolitan University.

McKay, an intergenerational residential school survivor, says there was a time in his life where, even on the land his people called home since time immemorial — Riding Mountain National Park, located 99 kilometres north of Brandon — his journey of homecoming has rebuilt a sense of belonging.

“I’m starting to reclaim myself, my voice, my body, my spirit,” McKay said.

It wasn’t until McKay grew older and recognized the impact of colonization that he began to understand that the land is his home — not just Rolling River First Nation, but the land all around it.

“It’s part of my home,” he said. “Let’s share that home and share it with the land. It’s our keeper.”

McKay and Hawamda will present their creation at Pier 21 in Halifax on Feb. 23, and then again at the Woodland Cultural Centre in Brantford, Ont., on Feb. 25.

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