National park seeks more Indigenous art

Pukaskwa National Park has renewed a call-out to Indigenous artisan with plans to expand the park gift shop with Indigenous talent from the North Shore.

That’s according to the park’s site manager, Karen Blackbourn, and visitor experience manager, Serafina Orcoyen, on Friday.

“We’re really excited,” Blackbourn said. “We’re already receiving some responses and (we’re) really excited to have even more Indigenous artwork and other products in the store this year.”

The artisan call-out was started last year in response to a high demand for Indigenous art and products that the gift store didn’t offer, Blackbourn said.

“It was really successful, and we had several really amazing artisans and producers that brought their work to the park store,” Blackbourn said.

Last year, a call-out for artists from Biigtigong Nishnaabeg was made through the park’s Guardians Program, Blackbourn said, and the community answered.

“We realized this year that we want to keep going with that trend and provide even more of an opportunity to showcase local Indigenous artisanal work,” she said.

The gift shop offers merchandise such as hoodies, bead work, jewellery, art prints and more, Blackbourn said.

“This year we sent a call out directly to Superior Region First Nations to kind of broaden that call out,” she said.

“It’s really important for us to remember that the park lands have been home to Indigenous peoples on the North Shore since time immemorial,” she said.

When the national park was established, there was a commitment made at that time to provide economic opportunities to Indigenous people and businesses, Blackbourn said.

“This is part of that commitment,” she said. “It’s our effort to just bring that history and showcase Indigenous culture and highlight the amazing artists that are here on the north shore of Lake Superior.”

Artisans who reach out to the park will go through a process that includes learning about the items they create and seeing if they are fit for the gift store, Blackbourn said.

“As long as it’s a fit for the store…  then we’re likely to say yes,” she said. “We don’t have a heavy screening process.”

Having an influx of artists involved respond to the call-out would be amazing, Orcoyen said.

“That would be absolutely amazing, and I would love for it to get to the point that we have to make really great decisions on what pieces come in,” she said.

While there are no confirmed plans at this time, Orcoyen said hopes the call-out will be renewed.

“Our intentions would be to continue to have an opportunity to showcase and connect visitors with that really incredible piece that’s going to mark their experience at Pukaskwa,” she said.

“I think it’s a phenomenal way to be able to do so.”

Artisans interested in participating can send an email to pukaskwaont@pc.gc.ca. – snnewswatch.com

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Great as long as its not that Woodland style of art that you see everywhere including on Thunder Bay transit buses.

There has to be more to Indigenous art than that.   If the Woodland style of art was founded by Norval Morrisseau in the 1960s, what was around before then?    

What art existed 100 years ago? 200 years ago?   Before paint and canvas?   THAT is what we need to see more of.

Before the arrival of Europeans.  Before beads. Before cloth.  Before metal tools. Before all of that stuff.  What was there? What did it look like?

Does anyone know? Can anyone reproduce it?  Is anyone producing it today?   If they are, why are we not seeing more of it?

I keep hearing about the arrival of the colonizers.  How colonization was catastrophic to the Indigenous culture.

Sooo, wheat art did that culture produce?  We need to see that.  That needs to be in art galleries and museums. Not all of the Woodland crap.

Woodland art has become tourist shlock.  Sold at every kiosk in the city.