BELLEVILLE – The 30th annual Indigenous Arts Festival was celebrated in Loyalist College’s Shark Tank Pub on Saturday Dec. 7. The festival showcased various works of Indigenous art. The event was open for the public to attend between 10am and 4pm.
The festival is celebrated every year to showcase Indigenous works of art, craft, music and food which has a rich history and helps display and preserve cultural heritage. Many people came to be a part of the festival as live music and friendly chatter filled the venue.
Kristin (left) and Brenda Brant at Shark Tank Pub
Brenda Brant, is the office coordinator for the Indigenous Services team at Loyalist College.
“The main theme and goal of the festival is to bring people together and showcase our Indigenous art, our Indigenous foods. We have Indigenous singers and drummers come in as well. Just a day for everybody to get together, have fun, and maybe buy a Christmas gift or two.” said Brant.
“The whole idea is to bring all of our culture, all of our artists in one venue so that we can share what we love to do with everybody else. They (vendors) are here selling their ribbon skirts, t shirts, indigenous paintings on cards, earrings, headpieces, regalia and stuff that all of Indigenous people make. It’s all benefiting individuals (vendors). I am happy to be a part of the organization for the festival.” Brant added.
Some vendors at the festival shared the stories behind their art.
James Robertson from Makwag Design was one of the many vendors at the festival.
“My heritage is a wonderful part of my life. I love to create things, it’s very dear to my heart and I’ve bee doing it for a lot of years, since like 2002 I would say, I started. Everything I do is by hand. I don’t buy stuff and resell it. I make all this myself. My wife helps me with it too.” said Robertson, referring to his art.
James Robertson from Makwag Design
“I make leather crafts, use feathers, use animal parts, but I do not kill animals for parts. If the animal is passed away, then I use the parts then I discard it properly. That’s the right way. I use leather, feathers, glass beads.” James also uses wood, bull horns and deer antlers.
“Indigenous art is bringing our culture back. For many years we weren’t allowed to you know, and now we are allowed to. It’s nice to see that we are back doing it again, bringing our culture and languages back. We are reconciling and everything is getting mended, but it’s going to take a while. It’s very important to keep it going. “ added Robertson.
Valerie Armstrong (left) and Linda Bogert
Linda Bogert from Sacred Feather Creations was another vendor, specializing in work with feathers. She was joined by Valerie Armstrong from Unique Beaded Dimensions.
“I work with our highest messengers, the feathers, birds. I also work with a lot of furs and animals. I also harvest my own sweet-grass and braid it. I usually braid it outside with sage burning and animals of the country, all the animals would come around. I go to the waters a lot and get my wood there. All my work is handmade.” said Bogert.
“This work is in my roots. I feel I work with spirits and my ancestors, they guide me. I am very spiritually sensitive. My great-grandmother carried the medicines when people were sick back in the early 19th century, she would make medicine for people in the reserve and bring it to them. So I continued carrying medicines for her. It’s very important to be taught to the children because we lost our heritage and knowledge in the past. The children need to continuously pass it on through generations and keep it alive,” she added.
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