Indigenous voices series

County Arts launches new three-year project

Afull house enjoyed a stimulating conversation between two Indigenous filmmakers at Macaulay Museum last Thursday evening at the launch of the Prince Edward County Arts Council Indigenous Voices series. The series was made possible thanks to an anonymous donation of $30,000 to the Arts Council to support Indigenous artists by creating opportunities for them to share their work, their knowledge and their perspectives with the wider community. The participating filmmakers were Shelby Lisk from Tyendinaga and Jennifer Podemski, who is based in Toronto. Lisk is an emerging filmmaker with a background in journalism who created the Art of Sovereignty podcast for TVO and already has a slew of awards for her work. Podemski started acting at the age of 16 before embarking on a 30-plus-year career as a writer, director and producer. Her credits include Reservation Dogs, Degrassi – The Next Generation, and Empire of Dirt. Her new six-part mini-series, Little Bird, is scheduled for release early next year on Crave and APTN.

The evening’s event was a fundraiser for Tsi Tyónnheht Onkwawén:na (TTO), a nonprofit dedicated to revitalizing Kanyen’kehá:ka (Mohawk) language and culture in Tyendinaga. TTO Executive Director Callie Hill said she appreciated the support from the County and gave a brief description of the centre’s work. “It’s about the revitalization of the Mohawk language, to bring back the ancestral knowledge for living in the world,” she said. Recent projects include the printing of 30 bilingual children’s readers as well as collaboration with Kahnawà:ke youth to build 200 snowboards as a fundraiser.

The format for the evening was in the form of a conversation on filmmaking between Lisk and Podemski, and why they were both interested in telling stories from an Indigenous perspective. They both noted that Indigenous women were the least represented in all areas of film and journalism, and that it was difficult in the industry for these women to be given a chance to lead a project, although that is slowly changing. Podemski said that for many years she felt somewhat invisible and that she wanted to tell Indigenous stories as a way to honour the past, to build bridges between communities and to be part of the healing process.

County Arts Executive Director Janna Smith was thrilled that so many people came out to the inaugural event, and said that over $1,000 was raised for TTO. “This was a perfect opportunity for us to launch our Indigenous Voices fund. This is our first time telling our community about it, and also doing a bit of outreach,” she said. “We’re letting Indigenous artists know about the program and asking if they would like to get involved, as the framework of the program will be co-designed with Indigenous people.” The series is intended to foster reconciliation and provide a platform for Indigenous stories and perspectives. “It’s our opportunity to let the arts do some of the work that is necessary for all of us to heal and to reconcile and to hear each other’s stories,” she added.

Shelby Lisk said this was an amazing opportunity to sit down and have a conversation with Podemski, who she describes as a mentor. “Getting to sit down and hear her perspective and make these connections is really meaningful and important to me,” she said. Lisk studied visual arts at the University of Ottawa and then obtained a diploma in journalism at Loyalist College. She was drawn to telling people’s stories in their own voices, which is why she became interested in filmmaking. “There’s something different about creating a moving image and you can watch something unfold, which I think is really beautiful,” she said. “Allowing Indigenous people to have their own voices on screen is really important because it allows us to tell our own stories.” That focus on the Indigenous voice is also important to Podemski. “Indigenous languages are like roadmaps. They hold everything from world views to information about land and sustainability. Language unlocks a potential that we aren’t currently aware of because so many languages have been lost. The next frontier of Indigenous storytelling will really be in their own language.” As a filmmaker, she has been inspired by reclaiming stories, and her new film, Little Bird, is a prime example. “It’s about a young Indigenous woman adopted by a Jewish family in Montreal who is seeking to uncover the truth of her past. It’s a story of identity,” she said. “I’m very curious about the potential that stories have to build bridges and heal, and I think there’s a lot of healing that needs to be done in our society, specifically when it comes to Indigenous people and the way we are seen. It is time to reclaim the stories that were not allowed to be told.” For more information about the County Arts Indigenous Voices series, please visit countyarts. ca/indigenous-voices-fund.