Identity Crap-Shoot

description

Identity Crap Shoot is a commentary on the legal definition of Indians in Canada. The labels “status, non-status, Metis, Inuit, C-31 or C-3” flow from the Indian Act – an Act designed to destroy and then fully eliminate the Indigenous peoples of this land so early colonizers could usurp the land. 

Federal politicians and bureaucrats “toss the dice” and hundreds of thousands of Indigenous people are denied their identity and access to basic human needs and rights.  The bandages labeled ‘housing, education, health and economic development’ represent the so-called ‘solutions’ that over the course of 150+ years have ‘solved’ nothing. 

The entire piece is placed on a red bandana with a Raven design (Raven being a 'Messenger' in many of our legends) created by my grandmother, Ka’kasolas, Ellen Neel.  My grandmother became a non-status Indian when she married a white man, but she never stopped practicing our culture, so I felt that she would have appreciated being included in this piece! The red bandana also  represents the original lands and territories of our ancestors. 

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