"My people will sleep for one hundred years, but when they awake, it will be the artists who give them their spirit back." — Louis Riel

I never knew my great-grandmother, Alma Marie Parisien (née Normand), known to her grandkids as Grandma Joe. She died just eight months before I was born, but my mom was able to tell her I was coming before she passed.

When I showed my mom the beginnings of this piece, I told her I fell in love with this photo of Grandma Joe the moment I saw it. She looks so sure of herself—steady, powerful, unmovable. My mom laughed and said, “She was small, but you did not mess with her.” She loved watching pro wrestling, something my cousin is now carving out a name for himself in across Manitoba.

As I reconnect, I want to bring my ancestors with me, not as ghosts but as guides. I centred my grandmother and let Métis florals bloom behind her like wings—holding her up, holding her family up too.

Lii sooyii moo meaning moccasin.

Stitch by stitch, bead by bead, teaching by teaching, I’m learning.

This was the project I was most scared to start. I’ve had these materials and the design drawn for months. Sitting, waiting. With the exception of the beads (obviously) I’ve worked with none of these materials before. I was scared, working with hide felt so permanent.

From buying the materials with A LOT of help, to figuring out the pattern, to making my first hide thimble, to stitching my first beads and thinking “what have I done?!” it was all so incredibly worth it. I wanted to do it right because I want to have these forever. I want to be able to pass them down, I want this skill to stay alive in my family tree. I felt a lot of responsibility starting this project and now I can wear these with pride.

I look forward to the day where I can connect with my Métis relatives in person and try my hand at another pair in a workshop. For now I have to thank @denisedarling, Catherine from @cvltvrebead, @bronwynbutterfield, and @lorbrand for their amazing knowledge and guidance, @tripcharbsfor the very helpful moccasin creation videos, @billworbfurs for the help with materials, and all of you in this incredible online community for cheering me on. I made some traditional footwear... WHAT?!

ABOUT THE MOCCASIN
The word moccasin loosely translates to “footwear” in various Algonquian languages, such as Plains Ojibwe (makisin or makizinan), Siksika (niitsitsikin) and Plains Cree (maskisin).

“First, constructions of the shoe varied by geography, reflecting the individual characteristics of each region’s tribes. Some subarctic tribes used a single piece of soft hide to cover it, for instance, while Great Plains tribes treated the moccasin as a modern-day outdoor shoe, even using a separate leather sole on the bottom.” – Christian Allaire, Vogue article ‘Why My Traditional Indigenous Moccasins Are The Ultimate House Slipper’

Orange Shirt Day began on September 30, 2013, to honour the estimated 150,000 children who were kidnapped from their families and forced into residential schools from 1831-1996. Residential schools were government-funded religious schools established in Canada to strip children of their Indigenous culture and assimilate them to Canadian society. These schools have caused long-term problems for Indigenous peoples and communities that are still felt today.
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**CONTENT WARNING: VIOLENCE AGAINST INDIGENOUS CHILDREN**
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"In 1886, at the age of twelve years, I was lassoed, roped and taken to the Government School at Lebret." shared Daniel Kennedy (Ochankuga’he), former student at Qu’Appelle residential school.
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I always hear “it’s in the past” and “they should get over it”. The last residential school closed in 1996, I was 6, there has been an existing residential school in my 30-year lifetime. We don't learn about residential schools as a genocide because of racism in Canadian systems. We're taught about genocides around the world but never discuss the one in our own backyard.
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According to the TRC Chair, Justice Murray Sinclair, an estimated 6,000 Indigenous children died in those schools. The ones that did survive faced heavy beatings, being chained up or confined and many students were sexually abused.
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I don't want to hear, "they believed they were doing the right thing" or "there was good intention behind it" those are lies. Colonizers believed that their way of living was the "correct" way of living, they believed in their superiority over Indigenous peoples and they intended to kill Indigenous culture.

I committed to 10 pins and started them on September 10 and finished them on September 22. For those who don't bead, these may be tiny but make no mistake, they take A LOT of work and time. I'm so incredibly grateful for everyone who reached out, I wish I could make them for everyone. I'm very happy to announce that I've reached my goal of $300 (10 pins at $30 each) for Ma Mawi Wi Chi Itata Centre, Inc. (Ma Mawi) here on Treaty 1 territory in Winnipeg.

The name Ma Mawi Wi Chi Itata translates from Ojibway into the phrase “we all work together to help one another” which is a phrase I think we all need to live by right now. Since I started beading last fall I've been welcomed into this beautiful Indigenous beading community and it has been incredibly important for my mental health during COVID-19. Thanks to your support I'm fortunate to be able to sell my work as a way to give back to the Indigenous community.

Wear your pin or orange t-shirt on September 30 as a way to remember all the Indigenous survivors of and Indigenous children lost in residential schools and remember going forward that #EveryChildMatters.

ABOUT MA MAWI WI CHI ITATA CENTRE
The Ma Mawi Wi Chi Itata Centre, Inc. was born in the fall of 1984 by committed community members who sought an Indigenous solution to supporting and rebuilding families. Since that time, Ma Mawi has worked to support families to better care for children by creating meaningful opportunities for community and family involvement. Ma Mawi believes that strengthening families is a worthy investment in the future.
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Today Ma Mawi offers more than 50 programs, 11 sites, and 200+ staff and volunteers.

VISIT MAMAWI.COM

Information: thecanadianencyclopedia.ca

My “Métis Nation” patch that took approximately 5 months of beading on and off.

Reclaiming what was stolen.

Growing up I always knew I was Métis but it was more something mentioned in passing, there were never any traditional teachings passed down, I never grew up feeling like Métis was a part of me that I could claim. I can’t ever be certain why, because my papas is no longer around to ask, but I can only think that part of it was shame. Shame that was violently forced on Indigenous folks by colonizers, a shame that is not ours to bear.

Since I can remember, I’ve been proud to be Métis but (and I’m ashamed to say this) only now am I really discovering why. The resiliency through the decades fills me with such great pride and even now, my generation and younger relearning and reclaiming for the future.

I’m a go go go kind of person. If I think of an idea I need to remedy it IMMEDIATELY. Beading has taught me how to slooooooow down in such a beautiful way. Beading takes time, care, and patience. Above all, I love creating and I rush to see the final product but your final product is only going to be as good as how many hours you put into it. This one took me 5 weeks of picking it up and putting it down to work on other things but I’m so happy with how it turned out and I‘m so ready to proudly wear it on my back.

HUGE thank you to everyone in the beading community who cheered me on with this one I needed that more than you know.

The winding Red River beaded here is south of St. Germain where my Papas grew up.

The area where my relatives settled per their “half-breed” scrip.

I submitted my application for Métis Citizenship this week and part of the process is being able to trace your ancestry back to a historic Métis community. My grandfather (5 generations before me) André Parisien belonged to a Métis community just south of where the La Salle River meets the Red River. 

After Manitoba's confederation on July 15, 1870, my grandfather signed a Métis scrip (or "half-breed" scrip) issued by the Dominion of Canada which was redeemable for $160 or 160 acres of land in exchange for their Métis land rights. 

It was difficult for Métis people to acquire land through this process because it was legally complex, disorganized and left much room for fraud. Many agents would forge signatures of Métis people while others were pressured into selling their scrip for less than face value to land speculators who would later sell the scrip to settlers at a profit. This process provided a simple and inexpensive way for the federal government to steal rights to land in the West and then clear it for commercial development and white settlement.

Even after signing these scrips the Dominion Lands Act allowed land to be granted to individuals, colonization companies, and the Hudson’s Bay Company and did not include the Métis people until amendments were put in place NINE YEARS LATER. Even after 1879 Métis people had limited access to lands compared to white settlers and many Métis were left homeless as a result of this system.

In 2013, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that the federal government failed to provide Métis people with the land grant they were promised in the Manitoba Act of 1870. Land negotiations between the government and the Métis Nation on reclaiming of land rights continue today.

In the 3rd picture you can see 6 of 8 Parisien lots on the east side of the Red River and one Zace (also my relations) the area just above what is now A Maze In Corn. My Papas Armand Parisien grew up and lived just north of our ancestors homelands (now known as St. Germain) until he married my grandmother and moved into the city. 

Farther back view of the area my ancestors settled in.

My great grandfather’s Métis scrip.

My Papas, Armand Joseph Edward Parisien.

Source information and further reading on thecanadianencyclopedia.ca.

I was honoured and so excited to make these for my dear friend Amirah’s mother Faye for Mother’s Day. Amirah and I have been friends since, I’m pretty sure, day one of grade one. She is working tirelessly advocating for nurses in the states right now so I was more than happy to get these to her amazing mama.

Growing up, I was so fortunate that Faye taught me so much about her history, culture and religion. I’m forever grateful for her generosity in sharing that because it has undoubtedly made me a better person. This was my opportunity to return the favour and share a little bit about my history and culture with her.

Beading for people I love has blessed me with opportunities to combine my culture with others like an upcoming commission piece I’m doing that will mix my Métis beadwork with an Irish inspiration for a mix of two of my cultures. This piece however, took me to Africa representing the sunsets Faye and her family enjoyed together on the shore of Malawi Lake.

You’ll notice on one pair of earrings there are 8 gold beads in the middle of the pattern, those 8 beads represent Faye and her husband and Amirah and her sister, they are the spirit beads in this piece.

These will only be replicated for her daughters.