Stolen Sisters — Sculptural + Video Installations | Cultural Teaching | Ceremony
As part of the convergent program upholding one another
Held Space | South Gallery
Installation Components:
Stolen Sister | The Métis — Gwen Monnet
Stolen Sister | The Kwakwaka’wakw — Elder, Dr. Evelyn Voyageur + Gwen Monnet
Stolen Sisters — Single channel video slideshow | Singers: Latisha Wadhams Pelkey, Isaiah Wadhams, Tommy Brown + Shawn Decaire | Concept + editing: Carla Voyageur | Audio recording: Zac Whyte
Stolen Sisters — Cedar House Panels: on loan from Royston Elementary School courtesy of SD 71 Indigenous Education
Cedar Teaching + Teaching Baskets — Cultural cedar teaching video: Elder, Dr. Evelyn Voyageur | Teaching baskets: Elder, Dr. Evelyn Voyageur | Video production: Zac Whyte
Ancestors’ Baskets — Grace Pottsmith + Jane Willie
Lil’ Red Dress — Carla Voyageur + Jeannine Lindsay | Dress design: Karver Everson | Metal Sculpture created by students of Edward Milne Community School
STOLEN SISTER | THE MÉTIS — Gwen Monnet
My interest in the Red Dresses came about with the visit of Walking with Our Sisters in our community in 2015. It was an extremely powerful exhibit featuring 1,810 moccasin vamps made by 1,400 people honoring the Missing and Murdered Indigenous women and Girls across Canada. Ramona Johnson and the Everson family were among those who volunteered countless hours to bring this event to the K’ómoks First Nation.
A button blanket was created as the Comox Valleys’ contribution to the travelling exhibit and the public was invited to visit the IHOS and sew a button around the perimeter of the blanket. Families of victims were invited to place a button in the interior of the blanket. It was here that I placed my sister’s unfinished beadwork that had sat in her kit for over 30 years; she was killed at the age of 16.
It was very meaningful to me that Karen had found a place among her stolen sisters and was, in a way, part of the world again.
The following year, a call to action was made by the Red Dress Project and as a response I fabricated nine red dresses for the high schools in our district. These dresses were adorned with sashes to represent the Métis, abalone for the First Nations and a seal ‘fur’ belt for the Inuit women and girls.
My wish was to take that idea a step further and create three-dimensional hollow sculptures to illustrate the invisibility of our missing sisters. The dresses are to be of various styles and sizes for impact and personalized to represent different age groups and Indigenous nations. They are to be a part of an ongoing project to create awareness for our Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls+.
As I am Métis, the child’s dress is adorned with a sash and floral pattern to honour the women and girls of my culture. This mixed-media sculpture was created for Indigenous Education SD 71.
STOLEN SISTER | THE KWAKWAKA’WAKW — Gwen Monnet + Elder, Dr. Evelyn Voyageur
I was very honoured when Dr. Evelyn Voyageur agreed to work with me on the woman’s dress. Cedar weaving is a long-standing tradition in her family and the healing element of this sacred medicine is a gift for the families of the stolen women of the Kwakwaka’wakw nation.
My intention for this sculpture was to bring more attention to the ongoing issue of our Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women and Girls+. I felt that the public recognized the symbolism of the red dress but perhaps it needed to be more personal. Our missing sisters needed to be called by name.
It should not be so easy to disappear; in a society where these girls were/are made to feel invisible, I wanted them to be seen.
Evelyns’ grand-daughter, Carla Voyageur, is co-founder (with Jeannine Walker) of the Lil’ Red Dress Project. Their important work has enabled the funding for billboards for local missing Indigenous women and girls. It was through them that families of victims were approached, and names were added to the interior of the dress. I hope that it brings comfort to these families to know that their loved ones are not alone.
It is important to note that the individuals pictured [in the dress on the screen] are a small representation of the thousands of Indigenous Women and Girls+ whose families are still searching, hoping, praying, and grieving.
Julia Bruce
Annie Cedar
Marion Dawson
Joanne Green
Janet Henry
Lavina Henry
Ainjil Hunt
Emma Isaac
Morenda Isaac
Lorraine Jacobson
Irene James
Elizabeth Lagis
Kayla Lalonde
Angeline Pete
Caroline Rufus
Cindy Scow
Carsyn Seaweed
Michelle Shaw
Therena Silva
Linda Speck
Adriane Wadhams
Patricia Wadhams
Rosalind Wadhams
Selena Wallace
Kristina Ward
Angie Williams
CEDAR TEACHING + TEACHING BASKETS — Cultural Cedar Teaching video: Elder, Dr. Evelyn Voyageur | Teaching Baskets: Elder, Dr. Evelyn Voyageur | Video production: Zac Whyte
Elder, Dr. Evelyn Voyageur is an active matriarch of the Kwakwaka’wakw culture and traditions. She has an ongoing cultural practice of sharing the teachings of cedar and bark weaving.
Elder, Dr. Evelyn Voyageur. Image courtesy of Alun Macanulty
ANCESTORS’ CEDAR BASKETS — Grace Pottsmith + Jane Willie
Ancestor Jane Willie – Evelyn’s maternal grandmother. Image: courtesy of Evelyn + Carla Voyageur
Ancestor Jane Willie – Evelyn’s mother. Image courtesy of Evelyn + Carla Voyageur
Ancestors’ Baskets — Grace Pottsmith + Jane Willie
The baskets in the installation were made by the ancestors of Elder, Dr. Evelyn Voyageur. The small baskets were made by Jane Willie, Evelyn’s mother, and the large basket was made Grace Pottsmith, Evelyn’s maternal grandmother.
LIL’ RED DRESS — Lil’ Red Dress Project — Carla Voyageur + Jeannine Lindsay | Dress design: Karver Everson | Metal Sculpture created by students of Edward Milne Community School
The Lil’ Red Dress Project began as a family conversation that was sparked by missing person signage in the Comox Valley and how striking it was to see multiple billboards for a young missing girl. Through our conversations, the common thread of our thought was that many of our Indigenous families would not be able to afford such signage or have the know how to began such a venture to bring light to their missing loved one. With this in mind, we began to brainstorm ideas on how we could bring more awareness, especially with the Red Dress install going up later that month by the Kumugwe Cultural Society.
As avid beaders, our family decided that we were going to try and bead a red dress pin to wear and honour MMIWG. Carla created our first pin and the rest of our family members quickly followed, creating pins to wear for awareness. The project grew very quickly and we soon had orders coming in for pins and the Comox Valley poured their support into this project. We decided that the funds raised from the sales of the pins would go to MMIWG signage and awareness projects and it’s safe to say that we haven’t slowed down since that September in 2018.
This project truly is a family affair as our husbands and children have all picked up beadwork and contribute to this project by beading pins, packaging products, doing mail-outs and helping to host workshops.
Learn more about the Lil Red Dress Project here.
The Lil’ Red Dress project has merchandize in CVAG’s curated gift shop, SHOP:MADE. Each purchase raises money for MMIWG2+ signage on Vancouver Island and helps spread awareness to the broader community.
GWEN MONNET | BIOGRAPHY
I was born in Comox to a large family of Métis heritage. My ancestors on my Father’s side are from Fort Chipewyan and Scotland, and from Wales on my Mother’s side.
I have managed to live my life doing what I love the most, most of the time. This usually involves a happy mix of art, community, travel and children.
Art has always been an integral part of my life. Historically, the women in my family were known for their beautiful beading and sewing skills, I suppose that became part of my identity early on. I do not have much in the way of formal training. I was fortunate to have encouraging art teachers along the way which included Brian Scott and Don Yeomans.
I love simple lines and bold colours, most of my past works include playful cartoon animals. I have also collaborated on large works in a few of our local schools. More recently, I have been using and building on the floral designs of my grandmother and have been exploring different mediums such as beadwork, soap stone carving, fabric sculpture and painting on drums.
K̓ILGAłIXA‘LAKW, ELDER, DR. EVELYN VOYAGUER | BIOGRAPHY
Despite going to St. Michael’s Residential School at age ten, Dr. Evelyn Voyageur is a fluent speaker of Kwak̓wala and an active matriarch of the Kwakwaka’wakw culture and traditions. She has dedicated her life to improving the health of Indigenous peoples through her more than five decades in the nursing profession.
As a registered nurse with a PhD in psychology, Dr. Voyageur has worked extensively in community and hospital-based health care across Alberta and British Columbia. She has worked with the Indian Residential School Society, where her work focused on supporting former students healing from the trauma of residential schools. She is also an educator who has taught and developed nursing curricula at the University of Victoria and North Island College.
Dr. Voyageur has received many awards for her contributions to Aboriginal nursing, including a 2018 Indspire Award for Health. This award acknowledged her promotion of Indigenous health in a number of capacities, most recently as BC representative for the Aboriginal Nurses Association and member of the board of St. Joseph’s General Hospital in BC. Dr. Voyageur was also recognized in 2017 in two ways by the College of Registered Nurses of BC when she received the LifeTime Achievement award and was one of 150 nurses across Canada chosen for excellence in nursing. Also of note, she was one of the first recipients of the Award of Excellence in Nursing from Health Canada’s First Nations and Inuit Branch.
Dr. Voyageur has been active in the Canadian Indigenous Nurses Association (formerly Aboriginal Nurses Association of Canada) since 1980, serving as the BC representative, vice-president, and president (2010 to 2012). She also founded the Native and Inuit Nurses Association of BC (NINA) in the early 1980s to help educate those who work with First Nations communities.
Evelyn has been an integral part of creating the Ni’noxsola, Elders in Residence program in Comox Valley schools. She sits on the Ni’noxsola advisory and regularly instructs the Kwak̓wala language and cedar bark weaving with students at Vanier Senior Secondary.
CARLA MAZMUWIDZUMGA VOAGEUR | BIOGRAPHY
Carla is of Musgamagw Dzawada’enuxw and Nisga’a ancestry. Maxmuwidzumga is the traditional name that bestowed upon her, roughly translating to “leaves a part of herself wherever she goes — her essence”, from the Kwak̓wala language. She was raised immersed in the richness of the Kwakwaka’wakw language, culture, values and traditions.
She lives on the traditional unceded territory of the K’ómoks and Pentlatch tribes and is a Kwak̓wala instructor at North Island College.
AAABAWASIGE JEANNINE LINDSAY | BIOGRAPHY
Jeannine comes from a diverse ancestry of Anishinaabe, Cree, Scottish and Irish bloodlines, and is adopted Musgamagw Dzawada’enuxw and Wuikinuxv. She lives on the traditional unceded territory of the K’ómoks First Nation and is an Indigenous Support Worker in the local school district.
Beading has been a passion for Jeannine, as she was taught by her grandmother at a young age and it’s been something that she has enjoyed and fostered throughout her life.
