Walking With Our Sisters in Winnipeg

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Walking With Our Sisters in Winnipeg

Elders, Velma Orvis andHelen Lesperance with Sherry Farrel Racette (Lead Curatorial and Installationdvisor! in the "ront row and #aina $arren, #irector o" %r&an Shaman 'allery and Sandra #elaronde o"

the Helen etty Os&orne Foundation in the &ac) row*

+

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etis Elder Velma Orvis is currently the 'randmother -eeper o" the moccasin vamps o" $al)in. $ith

Our Sisters, an installation art pro/ect o" +,011 pairs o" moccasin tops or 2vamps3 commemoratin. and

representin. an estimated 456 &ori.inal women and .irls who have &een murdered or .one missin. in

Canada since +78+* 9he $innipe. event is &ein. held at the %r&an Shaman 'allery "rom arch 5+ to

pril +5, 51+6*

E:hi&ition shines li.ht on ;invisi&lecatastrophe; o" missin. and murdered

womeny< Steven Leyden Cochrane

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$hen words "ail, people turn elsewhere to art, music, and ceremony, to direct action and most

importantly, to one another, to the ur.ent &usiness o" remem&erin. and ta)in. care* In

commemoratin. Canada;s missin. and murdered indi.enous women, $al)in. with Our Sisters

re"lects each o" these responses*

uilt around an immense installation o" handem&ellished moccasin DvampsD or Duppers,D one

un"inished pair "or each o" the 456 lost women and .irls, the pro/ect is the com&ined e""ort o" more

than +,11 artists, cra"tspeople, musicians, elders and volunteers* 9he result is somethin. &eyond the

scope o" a conventional e:hi&ition*

9he air inside %r&an Shaman is sweet and sli.htly dense "rom &urnin. sa.e and the "loors are cloa)ed

in swaths o" "a&ric* Visitors ta)e o"" their shoes as they enter, silence phones, put away cameras*

volunteer invites you to ta)e a pinch o" dry to&acco to carry as you ma)e your way around the

e:hi&ition, movin. cloc)wise*

Elements o" ritual help create a solemn, respect"ul atmosphere, &ut they also "ocus our attention,

char.in. our movement throu.h the space with .ravity and meanin.* 9hey delineate a sancti"ied, sa"e

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place, one set apart "rom the world outside, &ut they also help .round us* 9hey .ive us somethin.

tan.i&le to hold onto in the "ace o" overwhelmin. loss*

eyond their sheer num&er, the vamps; diversity o" materials, styles, and su&/ect matter is sta..erin.*

Em&ellishments ran.e "rom traditional moti"s "loral and .eometric patterns, medicine wheels and

inu)suit to landscape ima.ery, scenes o" contemporary ur&an li"e, and a&stract desi.ns, twin)lin.

auroras and an East Side Vancouver hotel si.n* any &ear names* Some "eature small photo.raphs

and painted portraits* 'littery pin) &eadwor) tiaras adorn tiny, un"inished childsied shoes* nother

pair teems with precise rows o" &lac) .i&&erish te:t< a scatterin. o" red letters spell out, D9here are no

words*D

ade &y artists o" all a.es, inclinations and s)ill levels, the vamps are en.rossin. on an individual

level and deeply a""ectin., &ut their "ull impact comes with a wider view* Loo)in. across the .allery,

they "orm ti.ht rows and phalan:es that "low around the space li)e runnin. water* $al)in. side&y

side, it;s possi&le to ima.ine each woman risin. up in turn, restored, to ta)e her place in a silent crowd

o" women, each uniGue, un"inished, and each received with tenderness and honour* 9he .allery

couldn;t hold them all*

$al)in. with Our Sisters is a .esture o" remem&rance and love, &ut it;s also motivated &y .rie" and

outra.e* Ei.ht hundred and twenty"our women and .irls disappeared in plain si.ht while too many in

a position to help either didn;t watch or didn;t care* Each un"inished pair o" moccasins spea)s to an

individual, insurmounta&le loss* 9o.ether they .ive visi&le "orm to a lar.ely unseen andunac)nowled.ed catastrophe*

E:itin. the .allery, I return the shreds o" loose to&acco I;d &een holdin., lettin. them slip silently "rom

my "in.ers* undled up, I tum&le into &ri.ht li.ht and &itter cold, sli.htly daed with the scent o" sa.e

risin. "rom my s)in* I thin) I can remem&er more, see more clearly, &ut "or a lon. time a"terwards no

words come*

Steven Leyden Cochrane is a Winnipeg-based artist, writer and educator.

Republished from the Winnipeg Free ress print edition !arch "#, "$%& C%#