I wanted to do something in support of Christi Belcourt’s Walking With Our Sisters project (I wasn’t able to get any vamps beaded in time). So I donated a painting….through the Auction for Action site….one based on the Walking With Our Sisters.
I sketched out a canvas….with a large Monarch butterfly at the heart of the canvas….against a background of various Anishinaabe floral …designs (similar to ones I saw on several of the vamps created for Christi’s art project)….but not in any particular order; more one of random nature….in a bit of chaos….like our day – to – day lives can be sometimes….or more so the effect on the families and friends of the missing and/or murdered women….it can definitely create grief….upset….emptiness….even chaos….violence against women in our community can also cause discord.
So I wanted to show that with effort and work….increased awareness & education….we can rise above such chaos and discord….fly free.
The lower right hand side includes symbols that I learned from the late Anishinaabe artist Norman Knott and have adapted for myself….the outer circle represents the physical body….the inner one the spiritual….the inner one is repeated above the butterfly standing on its own….this represents that the physical may die, but the spirit never does, it always remain.
This painting is called “Free Flight”. It is on a canvas 11″ X 14″. The attached photo show the work just finished….hopefully good enough to elicit some interest….and add to the funds being raised for this very important event: Walking For Our Sisters. (NOTE: The winning bid on this painting was $145.)
For more info on the issue of missing Aboriginal women, read the following:
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2012/08/31/missing-manitoba-women_n_1844739.html
http://www.amnesty.ca/our-work/issues/indigenous-peoples/no-more-stolen-sisters
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2011/12/13/pol-un-aboriginal-women.html
http://rabble.ca/news/2012/10/vigils-honour-missing-and-murdered-aboriginal-women-and-girls-Canada
Monarch butterflies are also missing….or at least their numbers are down….check out these:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/story/2013/03/15/wdr-monarch-butterflies-decline.html
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/03/130313142434.htm
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=monarch-butterflies-in-sharp-decline
I don’t wish to suggest that the issue of missing or murdered Aboriginal women is on par with a decrease in Monarch butterflies….although both are important issues. The number of missing or murdered Aboriginal women….the amount of violence towards Native women….all of this is totally unacceptable. But the decrease in Monarch butterfly numbers could be reflective of this issue of missing and murdered Native women….part of the problem with fewer Monarch butterflies could very well be climate change….or the use of certain pesticides. Maybe the missing and murdered Aboriginal women are also a result of the ‘climate’ of our society….of the way our society views Native women….and in this case, a climate that should change….actually should’ve changed a long time ago. Like the use of pesticides may have decreased Monarch butterflies….and this use of pesticides is often indiscriminate, not caring what insect life it takes….and is often illegal….we must rethink the issue of missing and murdered Native women….the issue of violence towards Aboriginal women. Because it is illegal of course….and also often indiscriminate. In the case of climate change or pesticide use, we can find a better way to deal with things if we choose to. And we have the ability to correct these problems. The same is true with missing and murdered Native women….with the problem of any type of violence towards Aboriginal women….towards any women. We can find a better way to deal with either issue….to correct any problems that are causing these….whether it is decreased Monarch butterflies….or the numbers of native women, missing or murdered, or through any form of violence towards them.
Here are a few more thoughts on this and how we should treat each other….no matter what gender we are:
“Woman is the centre of the wheel of life. She is the heartbeat of the people. She is not just in the home, but she is the community, she is the Nation.
One of our Grandmothers.
The woman is the foundation on which Nations are built. She is the heart of her Nation. If that heart is weak the people are weak. If her heart is strong and her mind is clear then the Nation is strong and knows its purpose. The woman is the centre of everything.” — Art Solomon (Ojibwe), “Kesheyanakwan” (Fast Moving Cloud), Anishinaabe Elder.
“It is time for women to pick up their medicine and help heal a troubled world.” — Art Solomon (Ojibwe), “Kesheyanakwan” (Fast Moving Cloud), Anishinaabe Elder.
The Fire Within
Each of us carries a fire within….whether it’s through the knowledge we have, or through our experiences and associations, we are responsible for maintaining that fire.
At the end of the day maybe we should ask ourselves: “how is our fire burning?” Maybe that would make us think of what we’ve gone through that day — if we’d been offensive to anyone, or if they have offended us.
Maybe we should reflect on that because it has a lot to do with nurturing the fire within. And maybe if we did that….to let go of any distractions of the day by making peace within ourselves….maybe then we could learn to nurture and maintain our own fire within.
Another teaching is about the differences between men and women….and finding a balance in relationships of any kind between the sexes:
How fire represents the man; men are responsible for keeping the fire at ceremonies; that fire is like that male energy….when we take part in a sweat lodge ceremony it is like being reborn from the womb of Mother Earth….the lodge is that womb….the fire that heats the rocks that go into the lodge from the fire are like the male seed entering the womb….the water put on those rocks is the female energy….water represents the female….water is the lifeblood of Mother Earth with the lakes, rivers etc. that feed her….so women are keepers of the water while men are the keepers of the fire….what does this have to do with relationships????….if man is fire and woman is water, then think of it this way: if you take fire and put it to water you create steam which is largely “invisible”….so too much on the male side can seem to make the female “disappear”…..if you take water and put it on fire, you can put the fire out….same thing then if too much on the female side; the male is “extinguished”….so it’s all about finding balance….not too much fire and not too much water….a balance or a “partnership” in learning to co-exist.
