ARTH 376 - Topics in Amerindian & Inuit Art

• W - 18:00-20:15
• EV-1.605
• INSTRUCTOR: DR. TRAVIS WYSOTE

Canada’s Indian Residential School (IRS) system attempted to eliminate Indigenous peoples as distinct cultures over the course of several generations. The schools were designed to accomplish what the Truth and Reconciliation (TRC) has termed “cultural genocide” by separating thousands of Indigenous children from their homelands and families. Using critical works by Indigenous scholars and first-hand accounts from Survivors, this course explores how Indigenous artists challenge, confront, and refuse the harmful legacy of the IRS system. 

Building on the treaty philosophies articulated by Indigenous thinkers like Saulteaux-Cree scholar Margaret Kovach and Mi’kmaw educator Marie Battiste, the course adopts the concept of “treaty” as a form of relational pedagogy for teaching and learning about the harmful and lasting effects of the schools. Guiding this experimental approach are seven sacred values featured in Indigenous creation and emergence stories – with courage, truth, respect, love, honesty, wisdom, and humility being cumulatively integrated as weekly themes.