Creative Manitoba Coaches: Albert McLeod, Indigenous Protocols in Art
Summary
TLDRAlbert MacLeod, of Scottish and Northern Cree descent, discusses decolonizing as creating safe spaces for indigenous storytelling. Based in Winnipeg, he works on indigenous knowledge, language, and cultural reclamation, particularly from the Ojibwe perspective. MacLeod collaborates with an Ojibwe language mentor and serves as an independent artist and cultural facilitator, guiding artists through history to understand indigenous values and expressions. He emphasizes the importance of humor, accuracy, and community engagement in art and life, encouraging aspiring indigenous artists to embrace their ancestral gifts and use them creatively.
Takeaways
- 🌱 **Decolonizing**: It's about creating safe spaces for indigenous people to share their stories and understand their cultural expressions.
- 👤 **Albert MacLeod**: A cultural facilitator and artist from Palm, Manitoba, with Scottish and Northern Cree ancestry, focusing on indigenous knowledge and language reclamation.
- 🏡 **Living in Winnipeg**: Albert has been living in Winnipeg for 40 years, working with an Ojibwe language mentor and focusing on indigenous perspectives in culture, philosophy, spirituality, and healing.
- 🎨 **Art in Family History**: Art has been a part of Albert's family history, and he continues this tradition as an independent artist and cultural facilitator.
- 🌟 **Creative Manitoba**: Albert has been with Creative Manitoba for several years, presenting workshops and helping with ceremonies like smudging and teachings.
- 🔄 **Interweaving Art and Culture**: Albert's work involves using art to transmit indigenous knowledge and understanding the historical context of indigenous art and its importance for land-based survival and culture transmission.
- 🌐 **Engaging with Non-Indigenous Community**: He helps non-indigenous artists understand complex social norms and protocols for engaging with indigenous people and building good relationships.
- 🌱 **Decolonizing Process**: It requires stepping out of comfort zones, engaging with the community, and being patient in building relationships over time.
- 🗣️ **Importance of Protocols**: Indigenous culture relies on spiritual guidance, and protocols are crucial for engaging with the spiritual world and maintaining a balanced perspective.
- 😄 **Enjoyment and Humor**: Life and art should be joyful and fun, and patience is key to understanding that progress may not always follow a predetermined schedule.
- 📚 **Accuracy and Research**: It's essential to conduct thorough research and engage with the community to understand social norms and gain accurate knowledge about indigenous groups.
- 🆕 **New Knowledge**: There's always new knowledge to be discovered in indigenous history, which predates colonization by thousands of years, offering fresh insights and experiences.
- 🎭 **Aspiring Indigenous Artists**: Carry the inherent gifts passed down by ancestors and use them in art disciplines, as they are part of one's DNA and identity.
Q & A
What does the term 'decolonizing' mean in the context of the transcript?
-Decolonizing refers to the process of making space for indigenous people to share their stories safely and to ask questions about their expressions and descriptions.
Who is Albert MacLeod and where is he originally from?
-Albert MacLeod is a person of Scottish immigrant and Northern Cree ancestry, originally from Palm, Manitoba.
What is Albert MacLeod's current focus in Winnipeg?
-Albert MacLeod is currently focusing on indigenous knowledge, language, cultural reclamation, primarily from the Ojibwe perspective.
How long has Albert MacLeod been with Creative Manitoba?
-Albert MacLeod has been with Creative Manitoba for about four or five years.
What is Albert MacLeod's role within the indigenous community?
-Albert MacLeod works as an independent artist and cultural facilitator, focusing on indigenous perspectives on culture, philosophy, spirituality, and healing.
What does Albert MacLeod do to help artists understand the history of indigenous knowledge and expression?
-Albert MacLeod helps artists understand the history by providing a pathway from pre-contact times to the colonial period and the recent indigenous resurgence.
How does Albert MacLeod engage with the non-indigenous community?
-Albert MacLeod engages with the non-indigenous community by explaining complex social norms and protocols for engaging with indigenous people and fostering good relationships.
What advice does Albert MacLeod give for decolonizing art and culture?
-Albert MacLeod advises stepping outside of comfort zones, engaging with the community, being patient, clear about intentions, and understanding that it's a learning process over time.
What does Albert MacLeod emphasize as important in indigenous culture?
-Albert MacLeod emphasizes the importance of humor, enjoying life, and the spiritual realm in guiding actions in indigenous culture.
What are the three key pieces of advice Albert MacLeod gives for engaging with indigenous art and culture?
-Albert MacLeod advises to have fun, be accurate and well-researched, and to understand that there is always new knowledge to be discovered.
What does Albert MacLeod suggest for aspiring indigenous artists?
-Albert MacLeod suggests that aspiring indigenous artists carry inherent gifts from their ancestors and should use those gifts to express their point of view about life in their chosen art discipline.
How does Creative Manitoba support Albert MacLeod's work?
-Creative Manitoba provides a vehicle and support for Albert MacLeod's work, allowing him to balance community development with creative outlets.
Outlines
🌱 Decolonizing and Indigenous Art
Albert MacLeod discusses decolonizing as a process of creating safe spaces for indigenous people to share their stories and explore their cultural expressions. He introduces himself as a person with Scottish and Northern Cree ancestry, living in Winnipeg and focusing on indigenous knowledge, language, and cultural reclamation. MacLeod works with an Ojibwe language mentor and engages in cultural facilitation, integrating art into his work to transmit knowledge. He emphasizes the historical importance of art in indigenous cultures for land-based survival and cultural transmission. MacLeod also provides a pathway for artists to understand the evolution of indigenous knowledge and expression from pre-contact times through colonial periods to the current indigenous resurgence. He works with the non-indigenous community to explain social norms and protocols for engaging with indigenous people, aiming to foster good relationships and understanding. He stresses the importance of stepping out of comfort zones, patience, and clear intentions in building relationships, which is a continuous learning process rather than a one-time event.
🎨 Indigenous Artistry and Joyful Creation
The second paragraph continues with MacLeod's insights on the role of joy and humor in the artistic process, emphasizing that art should be a joyful and fun experience. He advises aspiring indigenous artists to be accurate and thorough in their research, urging them to engage with the community directly to understand social norms. MacLeod highlights the importance of recognizing the new knowledge that can be discovered in indigenous history, which spans tens of thousands of years,远超 the relatively recent period of colonization. He encourages artists to embrace the inherent gifts passed down by their ancestors, which are integral to their artistic expression. MacLeod sees Creative Manitoba as a supportive vehicle for his work, allowing him to balance community development with creative expression. The paragraph concludes with the idea that art is not just about creating but also about the joyous process of creation.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Decolonizing
💡Indigenous Knowledge
💡Cultural Reclamation
💡Ojibwe
💡Art
💡Spirituality
💡Protocols
💡Non-Indigenous Community
💡Reconciliation
💡Indigenous Artist
💡Creative Manitoba
Highlights
Decolonizing involves creating safe spaces for indigenous people to share their stories.
Albert MacLeod's ancestry includes Scottish immigrant and Northern Cree backgrounds.
Albert has been living in Winnipeg for 40 years, focusing on indigenous knowledge and cultural reclamation.
He works with an Ojibwe language mentor and is involved with Creative Manitoba.
Albert's work includes workshops and ceremonies like smudging, emphasizing their importance.
He is an independent artist and cultural facilitator with a focus on indigenous perspectives.
Albert explores the history of indigenous art and its importance to land-based survival and cultural transmission.
He provides artists with a historical pathway from pre-contact times to the present indigenous resurgence.
Albert helps non-indigenous artists understand social norms and protocols when engaging with indigenous communities.
Decolonizing requires stepping out of comfort zones and engaging with the community.
It's important to be patient and clear about intentions when building relationships with indigenous communities.
Indigenous people across Canada and North America have distinct histories and protocols.
Albert emphasizes the importance of humor and enjoying life from an indigenous perspective.
Accuracy and thorough research are crucial when engaging with indigenous history and culture.
There is always new knowledge to be discovered in indigenous history and culture.
Aspiring indigenous artists carry inherent gifts passed down from their ancestors.
Creative Manitoba has been a great support and outlet for Albert's work.
Transcripts
decolonizing
is making space for indigenous people to
share their stories in a safe way
and to ask questions about what their
expressions
are about you know what are they
describing
name is albert macleod i originally come
from the palm manitoba
and my ancestry is scottish immigrant as
well as
northern cree who work together in the
hudson bay company for trade
i've been living in winnipeg for the
last 40 years
focusing now around indigenous knowledge
indigenous language cultural reclamation
primarily from the ojibwe perspective i
work with an
ojibwe language mentor and doing my work
in winnipeg
yeah i've been with creative manitoba
about four or five years
working in presenting workshops but also
helping with ceremony like with smudging
and teachings which i think are very
important
art sort of is flows in my family
history
and so that was something i wanted to
explore and so today
i continue my work but more as an
independent
artist cultural facilitator with the
focus on indigenous perspectives
on culture philosophy
spirituality and healing and i
interweave sort of the
perspective of art or how art is used to
transmit that knowledge
in my work i kind of go back into
history and help artists understand how
we got to where we are
some of the values we have about
knowledge particularly
indigenous knowledge and then expression
which would include
the arts i kind of weave in that
historic idea that you know indigenous
people
were artists art was very important to
land-based survival and the transmission
of culture
and also it's it's even more important
today for this generation who is
i know interpreting the history you know
decolonizing
and reconciling that past to their art
so i kind of provide artists with that
pathway
that goes from you know pre-contact
times
into the colonial period and the more
recent indigenous resurgence
how i work with the non-indigenous
community is
to explain some of the more complex and
sophisticated
social norms and protocols in engaging
with indigenous people uh indigenous
knowledge and how to have a good
relationship
in the community and you know having
conversations about
art theory art expression visions
and and those kind of things so it's
more or less you know creating a
a good relationship with the community
uh with non-indigenous artists so they
understand you know that they're not
sort of
reaching certain protocols that are
important
and sort of just guiding them in that
way today
uh in terms of decolonizing we have to
step outside of our comfort zone outside
of our boxes
and go into the community and engage
that way and it's so it's a learning
process that
is not going to be immediate so we have
to be patient
and be clear about our intentions and
that
you know it's over time that we create
this relationship
and in many cases it's not a one-off
it's the beginning of a journey of
learning
and of sharing and that's what i kind of
see with artists
you know it is a reflection of our
points of view or world views
but in decolonizing it's making space
for indigenous
people to share their stories in a safe
way and to
ask questions about what their
expressions
are about you know what are they
describing across canada and north
america there's very
diverse groups of indigenous people that
have distinct
histories and protocols the ones that we
have in this region
is about creating a relationship with
the individual
we kind of really focus on you know the
foibles of being human
and in the indigenous culture we rely on
the spiritual realm to guide us as well
in
what we do in our lives so that's why
these
protocols are very important because
you know humans only have a certain
range of view
whereas when we engage elements of the
spiritual world whether it's the plant
world
the animal world or the sky world that
that can really
change the dynamic well i think
having fun is probably at the top and
that
you know from the indigenous perspective
life is generally about
humor and enjoying your life
and again i mentioned earlier being
patient not everything is going to
happen
on a schedule that you know is
predetermined
and so being more flexible and fluid and
letting the
the joy and the humor come into the work
and that you know things will
ultimately get done but again it should
be a joyful process and i think that's
what art
is about it should be something that is
uh
joyful and and fun the second one is
i think as being accurate knowing your
stuff
right and studying and doing background
research
a lot of times people just do
superficial research about a particular
topic or
indigenous group that's why i said you
really need to get out from behind your
desk or studio or whatever
and go into the community and spend some
time there and learn about the social
norms
of that particular community third is is
there's always new knowledge
indigenous history goes back tens of
thousands of years
and colonization is relatively recent
three to four hundred years and so in
this journey of exploration
of our expression and history and vision
you know we can expect to find new
things that other people have not
seen before or heard before or
experienced before
and so that's that sort of layering of
history and
relationship and spirituality
for the aspiring indigenous artist
you carry inherent gifts you know that
have been passed forward to you by your
ancestors
who live in art and lived in art every
day
and to realize that that that was a gift
from your ancestors
and it's in your hands it's in your mind
you know it's your
point of view about life and so every
day we have that opportunity to pick up
those tools
and begin to use them and they will work
you know whatever discipline and art
that you're interested in
it will work because you carry that gift
it's in your dna there's a lot to
express
so i think creative manitoba has been
that vehicle for me
has really been a great support to my
work and is kind of a
an avenue where i get to balance the
more intense
work i do in community development with
more of a creative outlet
[Music]
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