It is with great pleasure we announce that our collaborative work to create and install 8 Storytelling and Interpretive Signs has been unveiled. 

This process began with a vision in 2020 to hear Elder Mary Courchene’s and Elder Dan Thomas’ voices, stories, and teachings on the Land with us. They both contributed greatly to the founding of the Centre, including gifting us with our name and colours, guiding our principles and direction through the lens of Land-based Education and Indigenous Philosophy.

Each sign reflects a theme and location. The nourishing words of the Elders facilitate the visitors understanding of where they stand and the stories connected to that location as well as the lessons embedded within the Earth.

Each panel, story, and theme encourage us to reflect of what it may mean to live a good life, and how to live in good relationship on this Earth where all life is interconnected.  The Elders’ presence is within the text and audio/QR code, accompanied by artistic graphics, reflective questions, and a map to guide you from sign to sign.

This was a collaborative, generative, interdisciplinary and intergenerational production and process involving many voices and contributors:

Elder Mary Courchene and Elder Dan Thomas, the voices, storytellers, teachers, and cultural leaders behind these signs. They forever nourish us.

Elder Derek Courchene, Seven Oaks School Division’s Elder in Residence, a generous teacher of ancestral ways, gifted in de-colonial writing, thinking and editing.

Sherri Denysuik , Assistant Superintendent of Indigenous Excellence in Education. A gifted visionary, guide, collaborator and networker throughout the existence of the Aki Centre and this storytelling project.

Alexis Nazeravich, Operations Co-ordinator, Ozhaawashkwaa Animikii-Bineshi Aki Onji Kinimaagae’ Inun and project visionary and co-ordinator, co-writer, co-editor, & audio recorder.

Artist: Jaimie Isaac is a Winnipeg-based interdisciplinary artist  and curator, and member of Sagkeeng First Nation in Treaty 1 Territory, and is Seven Oaks Scholar in Residence. Jaimie worked alongside Mino-Bimaadiziwin for Indigenous Youth to facilitate experiences, dialogue, and collective reflection on Indigenous voice in interpretive signage. Jaimie is a gifted distiller of experiences and through,  designer, artist, curator, editor, and de-colonial thinker, writer and editor.

Youth: Mino-Bimaadiziwin for Indigenous Youth 2023 were dynamic and powerful contributors, they conceptualized a visual literacy to reflect the Elders stories and collective experiences of the group. Mino-Bimaadiziwin for Indigenous Youth 2023 participants:

Heavenly Lee Anderson, Shaylene Bruce , Jaidyn Gosek, Sarah Thomas, Hailey Peebles, Mika Cook-Cordell, Jordan Kirton, Issac Ross, Peyton Berens, Xanny Yuhaha

Program Coordinators: Danae Mason, Frank Halas, Kylie Sais

Contributing Artist: Jordan Stranger is an Anishinaabe artist and graphic designer originally from Peguis First Nation. Jordan created the Blue Thunderbird mural over the entrance to the Aki Centre which is also shared on our Welcome sign. You will recognize Jordan’s colourful art on logos, graphics and murals in places such as The Forks Market, Festival du Voyageur, Winnipeg 150 logo, APTN, Shopify, Audible, Apple, and beyond. 

Contributing Artists: Onaman Collective is formed by artists Christi Belcourt and Isaac Murdoch. “We are Indigenous artists and environmentalists who love the land and believe in the spirits of the land, in the resilience and beauty of our people, in our Elders and our young people. With everything we do, the underlying theme is always respect for the land and reclamation of the ways of our ancestors.” Their art, “Water is Life” and “Water is Sacred”, appear on the panels for Nibi and N’daanikoobijigaanag.

Contributing Artist: Sacha Isaac Penner is a young Anishinaabe student in Seven Oaks School Division’s Exchange Met School who really likes to fish and does some art in his spare time. Sacha shared his drawing of a fish on the panel for Nibi.

Contributing Artist: Heather Hinam is a Manitoba-based artist and naturalist who lives in the forests near Lake Winnipeg. She contributed the drawing of the Mountie and worked closely with Jaimie Isaac to render her drawings into a digital format.

Construction: Career Ready Building Trades Program Educator Jason Camphuis and students from the 2022-24 program built the structural frames for the interpretive panels and lead the panel installation. This is one of many major contributions to the Aki Centre over the years.

Audio: Career Ready Performing Arts Production and Industry Program Educator Bryan Buchalter, an expert in audio editing and refining, ensured clear and quality recordings of the Elders.

Technical Support: Jodi Kryschuk, Seven Oaks School Division’s Network Technician, supported QR code generation and related expertise in joining audio to each panel.

Partner: Heather Hinam is the mind behind Second Nature Creative Interpretation. Heather creates interpretive signs and artwork that engage the mind, heart, and spirit, signs that stimulate conversation and learning.

Partner: Darcy Granove and Little Bluestem Landscape Architecture is an award-winning, female-led landscape architecture, planning + design firm based on Treaty One. LBLA creates designs deeply rooted in place. 

Funders

This project was made possible with funding from:

Manitoba Habitat Conservancy (MHC) through the Conservation Trust. (2022-2024)

MHC has also supported our stewardship and restoration of 35-acres of tallgrass prairie, wetland, conservation of the remnant prairie, and efforts to nurture deep connection of people and the Earth.

The Province of Manitoba through the Teachers’ Idea Fund. (2023-24)