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Tuesday May 5 2015 9 ARTS CULTURE INDIGENOUS YOUTH MENTORSHIP FOR TOURISM PROGRAM For more information visit www.iti.gov.nt.caymp Are you interested in learning more about the tourism industry from a skilled mentor Apply for the Department of Industry Tourism and Investments Youth Mentorship for Tourism Program today. Learn more by contacting the Regional ITI Office nearest you or online at www.iti.gov.nt.caymp MENTEE REQUIREMENTS NWT Resident Student between the ages 14-18 Young professional over the age of 18 REGIONAL ITI OFFICES Dehcho Region...............867 695-7500 Inuvik Region..................867 777- 7196 Sahtu Region..................867 587-7171 North Slave Region .......867 920-8967 South Slave Region.......867 872-6430 0004-A162_GNWT-ITI_NEWSNORTH_CMYK_5.0625X7.5625_FINAL Gain networking opportunities Gain valuable skills to be employed in the industry Gain advanced knowledge of the tourism structure Gain professional development experience Access long-term guidance By MEAGAN WOHLBERG Indigenous women in Canada are taking back their visual identities through an online photo campaign that seeks to protest cultural appropriation of indigenous art and reassert control over the way they are represented in popular culture. The campaign is called ReMatriate a term that celebrates the traditional and contem- porary roles of indigenous women and their efforts at revitalizing the cultures and lan- guages that were once outlawed while tack- ling the growing controversy over cultural theft in the fashion world. People trivializing our artforms as festival wearorwhateveritmightbeisabsolutelyinsult- ingtotheprocessthatgoesalongwithlearning thosetraditionalcraftsandculturalidentities said ReMatriates NWT representative Peyton Straker a Saulteaux artist and designer who lives in Yellowknife. Whether it be quill work or tanning a lot of it comes from super ancient land-based practices and none of thats really acknowledged in the pop culture context. ReMatriate was started earlier this year by women from the Yukon and northern B.C. in response to offensive runway fashion shows and festival wear appropriated from indig- enous traditional arts and sacred objects and sold as commodities without permission. The major catalyst for the group was Dsquared2s fashion line Dsquaw which designers said was inspired by the enchant- ment of Canadian Indian tribes and the noble spirit of Old Europe. Not only are those knockoffs a disrespect to the cultures they are stolen from says the ReMatriate collective they also make it more difficult for indigenous artists to craft and sell their work to the general public by cheapen- ing ancient art forms thereby impacting re- vitalizationeffortsinAboriginalcommunities. From an artistic sense as clever and so- phisticated as these big name designers think theyre being to the trained eye of indigenous people theyre extremely remedial and often childlike efforts at creating centuries-old tra- ditional art forms said Kelly Edzerza-Bapty an intern architect from the Tahltan Nation in northern B.C. and one of the founders of ReMatriate. It devalues the actual art pieces when you have creations that are kind of gesture-like approaches to the artform. They really take away the value out of authenticity. Straker said its not uncommon for her as an artist to see non-indigenous people prof- iting off of traditional arts and said it can be problematic when those efforts are marketed as being indigenous and end up overshadow- ing artists such as herself who makes jewelry from wildlife harvested in the NWT. All of the things I use in my art Ive har- vested myself or with my partner so the whole process is really important to me and I think maintaining the integrity of that process is kind of why I decided to get involved in Re- Matriate she said. Im an artist and I also tan hides and work withpeltsandIfeelthephysicaldecolonization that comes with being able to do those things and learning those things. Its become really important for my health and for my growth she said. The way that pop culture trivializes that experience is really bothersome to me. Recently the designer behind a New York Fashion Week show said his fallwinter 2015 KTZline-whosepieceswerecalledoutasblatant rip-offsofcontemporaryindigenousdesigners in the U.S. - said the show was a tribute to the primal woman indigenous to this land who evolves into a sexualized empowered being. As indigenous women we are constantly being sexualized without consent Straker said. Mainstream society has stolen so much from us and now that we see these indigenous-inspired images popping up ev- erywhere its just another thing theyre able to take from us without our consent. Its those kinds of descriptions and repre- sentations that arent just damaging to in- digenous artists but indigenous peoples in general especially for women and children who are more vulnerable to violence accord- ing to lawyer Claire Anderson. Anderson a Taku River Tlingit member of ReMatriate living in Whitehorse said erotic and objectifying portrayals of indigenous women trickle into other layers of society causing real damage. Really what were trying to capture with this is just the breadth of the number of dis- tinct First Nations cultures that actually exist in this landscape from the urban in- digenous to extremely rural communities said Edzerza-Bapty. Theres a very broad lens through which indigenous people sit. Were not this kind of homogenized or to- kenist image were from very vast cultures over a massive land base. Its hard to just ignore what harm there is in presenting the identity of indigenous women as hypersexual passive beings she said noting the more than 1200 missing and murdered indigenous women in Canada. Were complex educated smart driven women. Were more than just the image thats being portrayed and that image is actually having harmful effects that are seen in court- rooms and seen in police investigations she said.Itsgottentothepointwherewhilewere able to we have to voice that we dont consent to this representation for all the women who werent able to say that they didnt consent to the way that they were treated. We feel its an obligation. The ReMatriate exhibition can be found on- line on Facebook Twitter and Instagram. As the network expands the collective is hoping to curate a physical photographic exhibit to be shown in galleries and other cultural institu- tionsaswellascreateanonlinedatabaseshow- casingindigenousartistsacademicsandother resourcesforthepublictolearnmoreaboutthe diverse indigenous cultures of North America. Northern-sparked ReMatriate campaign takes on cultural appropriation Were more than just the imagethatsbeingportrayed and that image is actually having harmful effects that areseenincourtroomsand seeninpoliceinvestigations. Claire Anderson ReMatriate Dehcho Dene artist Melaw Nakehko from the Liidlii Kue First Nation in the NWT photographed by Kaska Dena artist Kali Spitzer. ReMatriate founder Kelly Edzerza-Bapty from the Tahltan Nation in northern B.C. receives her Master of Architecture. PhotsReMatriateFacebook