"Residential Values" - 2014
Performance Painting, Red + White + Black paint on canvas, Hockey Pucks. 90" x 42"
“Residential Values” is a performance painting that communicates the intergenerational effects of residential schools, and the racism that is faced in sports and everyday life.
Interpreted through personal experience and that of my father through his years served in residential school, the exhibit pushes to convey not only the pain, struggle, and anger felt through this period in life, but also to communicate the search for personal identity and culture in todays society.
My father, attended residential school in the NWT for 3 years within his early teens. His hockey skills were quite exceptional at a young age and would play with other students on the outdoor rink of the school. Often the priests and facilitators would join the students, which would encourage my father to play harder and succeed in the game; for this, he was punished.
He was strapped, abused, and mistreated almost on a daily basis throughout his entire service in residential school; I would hear the stories while growing up with him, and recently learned in detail about what happened.
He taught me and my brother to skate at an early age, and I entered into my first organized hockey league in the Atom Division in Whitehorse, Yukon. My brother moved back to Yellowknife to live with my mother, and after my adolescence in Whitehorse, my father and I moved to Lethbridge, Alberta so I could attend school and pursue a hockey career.
Although I made some great friends there throughout high school and college, it was difficult growing up in Southern Alberta as an aspiring indigenous hockey player. Mostly at games where we would travel through Alberta and Saskatchewan, it was common to receive racial slurs from the other team, and sometimes from teammates; love for the game faded quickly.
Despite receiving many invites from semi-pro organizations, I decided to eventually quit organized hockey. My decision wasn't approved by my father, who still has an immense passion for the game, but years later he understood that I needed to pursue my own journey.
This painting and performance is dedicated to the people and families who have attended residential schools in Canada. The efforts to reclaim our identities, spiritual practices, and societal equalities are constant and ongoing. Stay strong.