Earth Day 2022

Earth Day 2022 with ARTPARK honours Mother Earth and all the life sustaining gifts she provides for us with a series of experiences through the lens of Indigenous culture.

ARTPARK

Michele-Elise, Founder of Kakekalanicks, is proud to be ARTPARKS Indigenous Art Producer. ARTPARKS aims to produce and present excellence in the visual and performing arts, and create unique cultural experiences in a casual, natural setting. Artistic talent is nourished and allowed to flourish in an atmosphere that is entertaining, educational and interactive for Artpark visitors. Michele-Elise curates experiences to enrich ARTPARK guests in Indigenous Peoples culture and way of knowing.

Niagara 2022 Medal Lanyard Design

As part of the Indigenous Partnership Council and the Board of the Niagara 2022 Host Society, Michele-Elise is proud too announce that the Games medals will feature an Indigenous lanyard design featuring the Two Row Wampum teaches the importance of walking together, in parallel, with respect, compassion, and an understanding of how to cultivate an inclusive community for our shared future. It stresses unity, peace, respect, and friendship — and promotes a paradigm shift to create a transformative and sustainable change that is true to the Seventh Generation Principle.

In recognition of these vital teachings and the Two Row Wampum belt that was presented by the Indigenous peoples to the British at the Treaty of Niagara, the medal lanyard for the Niagara 2022 Canada Summer Games will showcase one figure on each side of the lanyard. The lanyard will be fastened to the medal so that the two figures can walk together.

Learn more about this historical initiative and the design of the Niagara 2022 Games Medal now. 

Celebration of Nations Gathering of Indigenous Arts, Culture, and Tradition

Created by Artistic Director Michele-Elise Burnett, is held annually at the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre in St. Catharines. Driven with a purposeful curatorial focus each new Celebration of Nations event creates a new and exciting foray into select Indigenous subjects that possess crossover appeal and convergence attributes designed to resonate with the general public, thereby meeting the expectations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action. Such was the case in Year One with the screening of RUMBLE: The Indians Who Rocked The World, which revealed the substantial contributions Indigenous artists made to the development of popular music, and in Year Two, with its powerful focus on Health and Healing featuring sessions covering the legacies of residential schools, the Sixties Scoop, and respiratory disease in Northern Inuit communities. The theme for year three is Empathic Traditions: Honouring Mother Earth, which will examine and present intellectual and artistic expressions of the cultural foundations many Indigenous peoples have related to the natural world, environmental ethics, and sustainability. Over the first weekend in September, St. Catharines will again become a hub of Indigenous activity including a gathering of Indigenous stewards of Canada’s UNESCO biosphere reserves, climate scientists, and public policy leaders responsible for maintaining the Great Lakes watershed, to musical and theatrical performances curated around those same themes. This particular Celebration of Nations will become another meaningful and innovative program for the City of St. Catharines, further establishing its standing as an innovative municipality doing cutting edge work with Indigenous peoples.

Landscape of Nations 360°: Indigenous Education Initiative

Landscape of Nations 360°: Indigenous Education Initiative is now in its second phase of developing an Indigenous Teacher Training Institute for educators across the Niagara Peninsula. This work, being conducted in partnership with the Woodland Cultural Centre, District School Board of Niagara, Niagara Catholic District School Board, Ridley College, Royal Oak Community School, and several other organizations, follows the first phase research and ground-breaking publication of the Framework for Essential Understandings About Indigenous Peoples of the Niagara Region.

Please visit our new LON 360° website here!

Niagara Falls Museums launch exhibition to kick off National Indigenous History Month

Niagara Falls, ON, May 31, 2020 – The Niagara Falls Museums teamed up with Landscape of Nations 360⁰ to create an exciting new virtual exhibition that explores the Museums’ collections of Indigenous artefacts as curated through the perspective of Indigenous curators and their allies.

Entitled, Empathic Traditions: Niagara's Indigenous Legacy, the exhibition features objects selected from the Indigenous collections of the Niagara Falls History Museum that reveal the presence of Indigenous peoples, their art and history in the region, extending back hundreds of generations up to the present day. Vivid imagery of the artifacts combined with interpretive information help us understand what life was like for those who first arrived.

Within the Indigenous collections of Niagara Falls History Museum is found evidence dating back to the earliest human inhabitation of the region. From the Paleoindian Period reaching back 13,000 years, through the Archaic and Woodland Periods, to European contact and modern times, Indigenous peoples have always been an essential part of Niagara. The team at LON 360⁰ examined this collection and developed a thrilling new exhibition that highlights the Indigenous footprint in Niagara's history.

"Developing an exhibit based upon the Indigenous history of this region has long been an aspiration of Museum leadership," said Clark Bernat, Culture and Museums Manager for the City of Niagara Falls. "We are therefore delighted that, with the assistance of the LON 360° team, we've been able to produce this high-quality online educational resource for the benefit of Niagara's K-12 schools and the general public."By examining projectile points, stone tools, pottery shards, jewelry, and other ancient creations, as well as historic and contemporary items, the exhibition reveals the cultural connections Indigenous peoples developed with nature and, subsequently, through their relations with Europeans. Visitors will learn how the necessity of survival required the design of useful tools, how function influenced form, and how form created objects of great beauty. If nature is aesthetically pleasing and inspirational then Niagara Falls must be considered a muse of epic proportion. From the first human encounter with the mighty cataracts, artful interpretation ensued.

"Crucial to our curatorial approach was to highlight and share how Indigenous peoples have engaged with and interpreted the environment of the Niagara Region," said Tim Johnson, LON 360° project director. "When we reference Empathic Traditions, we're talking about the repetitive gratitude that is expressed through Indigenous teachings that are intended to stimulate empathic responses that nourish both emotional and intellectual development."

Expressed within the exhibit, these considerations provide insights into cultural value systems that reinforce acknowledgement and reciprocity to promote environmental stewardship, conservation, and ecological restoration; all important considerations for sustaining stewardship of the region's natural features.

The exhibition includes more than 60 objects curated by some of the most knowledgeable experts on Indigenous culture, history, and archaeology in Southern Ontario, brought to life through the spectacular photography of award-winning photographer Mark Zelinski. The addition of video segments featuring Indigenous Curator Rick Hill, Archaeology Curator Rob MacDonald, Community Curator Dave Labbe, and Indigenous Arts Advisor Jolene Rickard will be added later in the year when the pandemic quarantine is lifted, and filming can resume.

The Niagara Falls History Museum will host this exhibition on its website. Explore EmpathicTraditions.ca starting May 31, 2020.

Moccasin Talks Speaker Series

The Moccasin Talks Speaker Series explores a wide range of Indigenous issues involving history, cultural practices and protocols, and contemporary issues during interactive and poignant community dialogues at libraries and community centres. These talks are led by Indigenous elders, scholars, professionals, residential school survivors, and a host of conveners with stories to tell. The Moccasin Talks aim to advance reconciliation by examining the relationship between indigenous peoples and Canadian society. Audience members have the opportunity to interact during the Q&As and are encouraged to ask questions which seek to bring clarity to people about some very difficult realities we all need to face together in order to move forward in strength, peace, harmony, friendship, and unity. Implementation of this series and other integrated programming has been conducted in partnership with the Niagara-on-the-Lake Public Library, Niagara Falls History Museum, Niagara Falls Public Library, and St. Catharines Public Library, with several other municipalities and organizations expressing interest

INDIGENOUS NIAGARA LIVING MUSEUM TOUR

LON 360° has established the INDIGENOUS NIAGARA LIVING MUSEUM TOUR of important historic sites and natural wonders in the Niagara Region! This tour, built to address educational objectives, will also be made available to national and international travellers seeking an informed and authentic Indigenous experience. The tour includes: British Indian Department Council House site; Fort George; Landscape of Nations Commemorative Memorial at Queenston Heights; Niagara River Gorge; Niagara Falls; Battle of Chippawa Site; Niagara Falls History Museum; Niagara Escarpment natural environment; First Nations Peace Monument and Battle of Beaver Dams site; "Curtain Call" contemporary art installation at the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre; and Indigenous trails of Niagara. Michele-Elise Burnett - Assistant Director | Michael Gruyich - Director of Business