National Indigenous History Month

National Indigenous Peoples Day

June 21, 12-5pm

Admission By Donation

Indigenous People’s Day, taking place on June 21, is a day to celebrate the culture, language and history of Indigenous communities in Canada, communities that have lived on Turtle Island (North America) for thousands of years.

Our theme, “Reclamation”, guides our program schedule to highlight learning and reclaiming of culture, language and traditions through art.

Schedule:

Main Hall

12pm            Elder Blessing

12:30pm       Performance (more information to come)

1-3pm           Healing Through Ribbons with Veronica McRae

3rd Floor Terrace

3pm              Tour 1 of The Reciprocity Garden

3:30pm         Tour 2 of The Reciprocity Garden

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Cinema for Seniors: So Surreal: Behind the Masks (2024)

June 13, 2-4pm

$5

 To mark Indigenous History Month, we are screening So Surreal: Behind the Masks, a feature-length documentary by Nêhiyaw filmmaker Neil Diamond. The film delves into the connection between Indigenous ceremonial masks and Western avant-garde. 

This screening is $5 or free with our Barrier-Free option. 

About the Film  

Combining illustration and engaging storytelling, this film traces the journey of Yup’ik and Kwakwaka’wakw ceremonial masks from the shores of North America to the hands of private European collectors and 20th century artists like Breton, Ernst and Miro through sale, trade and theft. In a bid for the repatriation of these sacred objects, a team of cultural preservation workers and art experts embarks on a global journey to track down the masks, revealing the power of survivance in the face of historical erasure and appropriation.   

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Film Screening | Two Soft Things, Two Hard Things (2016)

June 19, 7-8:30pm

$5

Join us for a screening of the compelling documentary Two Soft Things, Two Hard Things. This 2016 Canadian film delves into the history of queer identity among the Inuit, and the complexities that arise while planning and hosting a pride celebration.

This screening is included in the AGA’s annual programming for Indigenous History Month.

About the film: As Nunavut capital, Iqaluit, is planning its annual pride celebration, tensions rise and conversations around Christian missions, Inuit culture, government involvement, colonisation and loss of cultural identity are brought to the forefront. A new generation of community members work to remove the shame from their past and work towards 2SLGBTQIA+ inclusion.

“An entire culture’s way of life, their family structures, their spirituality and their sexual practices, were effectively silenced and erased in a single generation. That loss of cultural identity and that shame persist today and that’s why a seemingly simple pride event is anything but simple in a community like Iqaluit.” 

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