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Image from 1968 Canadian govt campaign to integrate Inuit and Eastern Arctic peoples |
A RESEARCH ASSOCIATE in fine art at the University of Dundee has received £54,000 from the Arts and Humanities Research Board.
Gavin Renwick has been working on projects with indigenous peoples for some time, and while completing his PhD he has spent two out of the past four years living and working with the Dogrib Dene people. He will use the award to collaborate with the Dogrib in designing and building homes that reflect Dogrib hunter-gatherer culture, to replace the Western-style housing introduced by the Canadian government.
The Dene are the aboriginal people of an area in Canada which stretches from Hudson Bay through the Northwest Territories and Yukon Territory to the interior of Alaska and from central Alberta to the Arctic Ocean. The word ‘Dene’ is derived from two aboriginal words, ‘De’ meaning flow and ‘Ne’ meaning Mother Earth. This encompasses a belief that the Dene people flow from Mother Earth and are a people of the creator and creation. The Dogrib are one of many distinct regional groups, each with their own territory and dialect, but all Dene share a common ancestry.
The concept of a move away from Canadian rule to self-governance entails a rethink of cultural values for all parties. The success of a post-colonial Dogrib nation may rest with its ability to re-establish an identity, which includes the way in which it relates to the environment. |
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Gavin Renwick lightboxes at Royal Albert Museum, Exeter: 83 drawings of the community of Gamiti (Rae Lakes) |
Gavin Renwick initially became involved with the community as one of several Western scholars who assisted the Dogrib with their land claim and move for independence as part of the Traditional Knowledge Project. The focus of his research has been to explore the Dogrib concept of home unlike the Western notion of fixed settlement and private property, the traditionally nomadic and hunting culture of the Dogrib regards ‘home’ as the wider surroundings of their vast sub-Arctic homeland.
“Traditionally, the Dogrib have a close relationship with the land but their way of life changed following the treaty with the Canadian Government, signed in 1921. For example, the layout of the houses they live in today are based around the Western way of living and notion of space,” explains Renwick.
Part of the Arts and Humanities Research Board (AHRB) funding will also be used to facilitate a visit of Dogrib elders to the UK. They plan to inspect Dogrib artefacts collected last century by fur traders from the Hudson Bay Trading Company, which are now kept by the Royal Museum in Edinburgh. Renwick will work with the Royal Museum to redefine its extensive collection of Dogrib ethnographic material, culminating in a major exhibition in around three years time. Artefacts will be presented according to Dogrib principles of space and framed in relation to their idea of land as home, and it is hoped that this will help foster understanding of the Dogrib culture as the people move towards autonomy.
Renwick feels positive about the Dogrib’s efforts to reclaim their cultural identity: “Their wish is to move forward yet continue to embrace their traditional heritage, and I feel privileged to have been given the opportunity to work for them.” |
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