Walking With Our Sisters

Call for Papers, Walking with Our Sisters

November 26, 2013Victoria Sweet

CALL FOR PAPERS

Walking with Our Sisters is seeking submissions for an edited collection tentatively entitled Keetsahnak, Our Sisters.

They are seeking scholarly and non-fiction essays that will contribute to the understanding of missing and murdered Indigenous women in Canada, the United States, and other colonial contexts worldwide.

Submission of a 300 word abstract is due January 24, 2014.

See full announcement here: Call for Papers WWOS.

More information on the Walking with Our Sisters project including tour dates and pictures of the moccasin vamps here.

Update, Walking With Our Sisters First Exhibit Opening October 2

September 20, 2013Victoria Sweet

The Walking With Our Sisters Exhibit will open to the public on October 2, 2013 at the University of Alberta in Edmonton.

For anyone not familiar with this exhibit, it originated with Métis artist Christi Belcourt, who was looking for a way to raise awareness about the 600+ missing or murdered Indigenous women in Canada. Her original plan was to have 600 moccasin vamps (uppers) made to symbolically represent these women. She sent out requests to the community to see if anyone would be willing to donate vamps to this project. The response to her call has far exceeded her expectations. The final number of vamps that have been created and donated to the project is now 1,723. This overwhelming response is a testament to the impact violence against women has had on Indigenous communities, not only in Canada but in the United States and other places around the world.

A site has been created with information about the project, the schedule of exhibits, pictures of the donated vamps, media releases, and more. Link here.

Previous coverage here.

At this time, Canada has not yet positively responded to requests for an inquiry into the disappearances and unsolved murders of these women.

This project is about these women, paying respect to their lives and existence on this earth. They are not forgotten. They are sisters, mothers, daughters, cousins, aunties, grandmothers, friends and wives. They have been cared for, they have been loved, and they are missing.

“Walking With Our Sisters” Commemorating Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women in Canada and the U.S.

June 7, 2013June 7, 2013Victoria Sweet6 Comments

The “Walking With Our Sisters” project will be wrapping up and beginning its journey across Canada and possibly into the United States in just over a month (it is currently booked through the beginning of 2018), but there is still time to participate for anyone interested.

If you are not familiar with this project, here is a description from project founder Christi Belcourt:

“Walking With Our Sisters” A Commemorative Art Installation for the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women of Canada and the United States.

Although statistics in the U.S. are not available at present, In Canada, it is estimated that 600+ native women have gone missing or have been murdered in the last 20 years. Many have vanished without a trace with little to no concern paid by the media, the general public or politicians. This is a travesty of justice.

600+ moccasin tops are being created by hundreds of caring and concerned people to create one large collaborative art piece that will be installed for the public in various galleries and sites. They will be installed in a winding path of beaded vamps on cloth over a gallery floor. Viewers would need to remove their shoes to walk over the cloth and walk along the path.   The exhibit is currently booked to tour across Canada and perhaps into the United States.

This project is about these women, paying respect to their lives and existence on this earth. They are not forgotten. They are sisters, mothers, daughters, cousins, grandmothers. They have been cared for, they have been loved, and they are missing.

A recording of traditional honour songs will also be created for the audio portion of the installation. A separate call to traditional singers anywhere in Turtle Island has gone out.

The due date for work is July 15, 2013. Mailed to Christi Belcourt, P.O. Box 5191, 133 Barber St., Espanola, ON, P5E 1A0. Send all work by a traceable package (Expedited, Registered, Express Post, etc.)

Donations towards the purchase of cloth, tobacco, shipping costs and other expenses directly related to the exhibit tour can be made by e-transfer to wwos@live.ca. Or directly to TD Canada Trust. Checks or money orders can be made out to Walking With Our Sisters and mailed.

All the work for the project is being done 100% by volunteers. No one is being paid for this work.

Link to the Facebook page for more information here.