Celebrating women, two-spirit people in Waawiiatanong through portraits

CBC
·3 min read

Women and two-spirit people are the ones being celebrated and featured in a special Indigenous community project on at Art Windsor-Essex. It's called Waawiiatanong Forever. Waawiiatanong is the name given to the area around Detroit and Windsor, Ont., meaning "where the river bends."

"We've been thinking about how to fight erasure of Indigenous people in this land. I think you can only do that through re-presencing," said curator Julie Rae Tucker, who is Munsee-Delaware and Turtle Clan, based in Windsor.

Julie Rae Tucker curated the Waawiiatanong Forever exhibit in collaboration with Jace Pillon, co-ordinator Shane Lyon and photographer Shayenna Nolan. Rae Tucker stands in front of some of the portraits displayed.
Julie Rae Tucker curated the Waawiiatanong Forever exhibit in collaboration with Jace Pillon, co-ordinator Shane Lyon and photographer Shayenna Nolan. Rae Tucker stands in front of some of the portraits displayed. (Josiah Sinanan/CBC)

"[The] women and two-spirit people in Windsor-Essex are really the people who do the heavy lifting in our community. [We] wanted to honour the contributions that they've made to make this a better place to live for everybody."

The exhibit, which launched in March and runs through September, is colourful. Braided sweetgrass frames the ceiling, the walls are adorned a bright pink and faces from many walks of life, ages and expressions, all fill the room with presence.

All of the photos were taken around the Windsor-Essex and Detroit areas over the course of a year.
All of the photos were taken around the Windsor-Essex and Detroit areas over the course of a year. (Josiah Sinanan/CBC)

Shanyenna Nolan is the Anishinaabe photographer behind the portraits. She explained an even deeper meaning to each face she captured for the project.

Anishinaabe photographer Shayenna Nolan captured all of the portraits in the exhibit.
Anishinaabe photographer Shayenna Nolan captured all of the portraits in the exhibit. (Josiah Sinanan/CBC)

"Most of [the participants] are paired with a street sign. Street signs in this region will have names of different nations on them, so we put a person who would be of that nation for every photo."

"If you come to see this and look at all of the street signs, you can actually start to place the people that live in Waawiiatanong to those nations and get a greater appreciation for the diversity of Indigenous people that live here."

Some examples of the photography featured in the exhibit where participants are posed in front of real street signs in the area, whose names correlate to their nation.
Some examples of the photography featured in the exhibit where participants are posed in front of real street signs in the area, whose names correlate to their nation. (Josiah Sinanan/CBC)

Nolan and Rae-Tucker both point to the collective that brought this project together, including project co-ordinator Shane Lyon, who helped bring together all of the participants for the photos.

As visitors walk into the exhibition room, they will take notice of a street sign crossing which reads "We Are Still Here," mirrored elsewhere in the museum in Anishnaabemowin.

The entrance to the exhibition features a poignant street sign with the words "We Are Still Here." A secondary message is found elsewhere in the museum with the same message in Anishinaabemowin.
The entrance to the exhibition features a poignant street sign with the words "We Are Still Here." A secondary message is found elsewhere in the museum with the same message in Anishinaabemowin. (Josiah Sinanan/CBC)

"That's what this is all about: representation," said Nolan.

"[The project] brought so much beautiful, joyous energy. That was the beautiful thing about getting to spend time with everyone. Getting to know a little about them and then representing them in these portraits."

Julie Rae Tucker and Shayenne Nolan pose together in the 'Waawiiatanong Forever' exhibit at Art Windsor-Essex.
Julie Rae Tucker and Shayenne Nolan pose together in the 'Waawiiatanong Forever' exhibit at Art Windsor-Essex. (Josiah Sinanan / CBC News)

Waawiiatanong Forever is on display at Art Windsor-Essex in downtown Windsor until Sept. 22. Rae-Tucker says they are continuing to work on ways for more projects like this to continue telling the story.