Disrupting the Visual Narrative of ‘Historical’ Indigenous Peoples: an Intervention on Le Collectif Au Pied Du Mur’s Mural in Pointe-Saint-Charles – Estelle Wathieu

The district of Pointe-Saint-Charles (South-West of Montreal)  is located on unceded, Kanien’kehá:ka (Mohawk) traditional territory.

In September 2013, the Collectif au Pied du Mur inaugurated on Knox Street (Pointe-Saint-Charles) their first and only mural named La Pointe – All Dressed  in the presence of 300 inhabitants of the district. [1] The project dated back from 2003 [2] when a development project (Action Populaire d’Aménagement) that aimed to improve the urban environment of the neighborhood was initiated by Action-Gardien, la Table de concertation communautaire de Pointe-Saint-Charles, an association gathering around twenty community organizations of Pointe-Saint-Charles. Inspired by this initiative, the anarchic group La Pointe Libertaire started their own mural in 2006, but they were instantly sued for vandalism, the wall on Knox Street being the propriety of the Canadian National Railway. After finding an agreement with the railway company, the collective partnered with the Carrefour d’éducation populaire of Pointe-Saint-Charles in 2012, received $20.000 from the artist organization ROUAGE / Engrenage Noir [3] in order to realize the mural painting, and the City of Montreal and the borough of the South-West funded the last $25.000. From November to May 2013, the collective prepared their intervention. Once they agreed on an outline, they presented the project to the inhabitants of the neighborhood during public presentations. The design of the mural being approved by the community, the mural was painted between May and September 2013. [4]

La Pointe – All Dressed: a positive evolution in the discourse around the origins of the neighborhood

The theme of the mural was the history of Pointe-Saint-Charles, the fight of its inhabitants for collective autonomy and their hopes for a more egalitarian future. In this sense, La Pointe – All Dressed contrasted sharply with another public artwork that was unveiled on Wellington Street – only five hundred metres away from the first mural – in September 2013. This mural was designed by the artist Annie Hamel for MU, a charity organization producing “turnkey” (to use their own words) murals in Montreal, and depicted eight King’s Wards, the young women that were sent from France by Louis XIV in order to get married to colonists and increase in this way the colony’s population. The mural of the St. Gabriel Elementary School was commissioned by the Maison St. Gabriel Museum to commemorate the 350th anniversary of the arrival of the first thirty-six King’s Daughters in Montreal. The King’s Wards having been welcomed by Marguerite Bourgeoys and her secular religious community, the Congrégation de Notre-Dame, at the Maison St. Gabriel in Pointe-Saint-Charles, they symbolized for many inhabitants the birth of the neighborhood. However, this narrative completely denies the Indigenous presence on the land before the contact with the European settlers. Before the colonization, Pointe-Saint-Charles was a good fishing and hunting area well-known from the Indigenous peoples that lived on the island of Tiohtià:ke (Montréal). By representing them in their mural, the Collectif au Pied du Mur took a first step towards decolonization – something made possible by the collective decision-making process that was chosen for the realization of this project.

Public consultation ≠ inclusive consultation

This public consultation process is in fact a laudable initiative, especially considering the short amount of time that the collective had to paint a mural of this scale. [5] From the beginning, the Collectif au Pied du Mur aimed to realize a mural in which the residents could recognize themselves and that would be anchored in the history of the neighborhood.  Their desire to integrate and co-operate went so far as to invite the inhabitants of the neighborhood to paint with them on Fridays – within the few months of the project, two hundred children left their hand print on the mural and one hundred and fifty adults helped the team at least one time. [6] However, the fact that they visually represented Indigenous peoples on their mural without consulting beforehand any Indigenous community from Montreal [7] is questionable, firstly because Indigenous peoples are marginalized by the Canada settler state and that their depiction by descendants of settlers or immigrants that benefit from the current political system can be offensive and harmful for them. Secondly, because the mural was not meant to empower the Indigenous community, but the residents of Pointe-Saint-Charles. The valorisation of Pointe-Saint-Charles and its multiculturalism, as well as the celebration of its inhabitants and their commitment to the struggle for social justice were the stated goals of this mural.

The ‘historical’ and ‘assimilated’ Indigenous peoples: issues surrounding their visual representation in La Pointe – All Dressed

The absence of a dialogue between the artist collective and the local Indigenous communities of Montreal is not the only issue around the representation of Indigenous peoples in this mural. The way that the Indigenous peoples are depicted in the mural is also problematic. Represented on the left part of the mural, they are completely separated from the joyful crowd of the inhabitants of the neighborhood who are demonstrating for social justice. The Lachine Canal makes a clear distinction between the Indigenous past and the modernity symbolized by the industrialization. The risk with this representation is to participate in the discourse of ‘vanishing Indigenous peoples’ that does not correspond to the reality. Another issue lays in the attitude of the Indigenous figures that was chosen by the muralists. In fact, the muralists picture them with a ‘mean look’ that may diabolize the Indigenous peoples in general and convey the idea that they do not belong to the so-called ‘modernity’. But Indigenous peoples still live on this land, they are thus an integral part of the life of Montreal and Pointe-Saint-Charles. In 2006, 555 Indigenous peoples were living in the South-West of Montreal, one of the highest concentration of Indigenous peoples in Montreal [8].  Admittedly, the Collectif au Pied du Mur acknowledged their presence, incorporating Indigenous figures in the crowd, but they represented them as assimilated, advocating for social justice with the others, and not for their own rights. The whole mural gives the image of silent and passive Indigenous peoples: whether excluded from the ‘modernity’ or completely assimilated. Their voices were silenced in order to celebrate the multiculturalism of the neighborhood and the political engagement of its inhabitants.

Disrupting the visual narrative of La Pointe All-Dressed: an intervention

“It is useless for us to become involved in a struggle to improve our image, because native people did not create these images, and they should not be concerned with trying to improve them so that whites will respect them. The society would simply create new racist images for us to work at… ” —Howard Adams, Prison of Grass, 1975 [9]

Inspired by this idea, I chose not to imagine a new version of the mural painting that would that would not be problematic or offensive to Indigenous peoples, but to bring awareness to the issues related the representation of Indigenous peoples in La Pointe All-Dressed.

1- First, I initiated a discussion with two of the painters of the mural, Shaen Johnston and Marco Sivestro – who was also the coordinator of the project. They confirmed me that no consultation had been made with the Indigenous communities of Montreal, but that they would be open to have a conversation about the design of the mural.

2- Then, my physical intervention on the site of the mural meant to disrupt the visual narrative of the mural and to engage directly in a discussion with the inhabitants of the neighborhood. I put a poster on the mural saying in English and French: ”You are walking on unceded, Kanien’kehá:ka (Mohawk) traditional territory. Indigenous peoples are not only the past of this land, but its present and future.” (see below the video documentation of my intervention). I chose the form of a poster to keep with the activist spirit of the neighborhood where we can find many political posters in the public space. Moreover, in their book, the authors of the mural themselves encouraged the inhabitants to interact with the mural by adding posters to it.

3 – Finally, this textual intervention will document my critical approach of the mural, as well as my interventions. My hope here is to make my research available to a wider audience, leaving the door open to anyone who would like to engage in discussion with this site or the Collectif au Pied du Mur.

Notes:

[1] Chagnot, Johanne, in collaboration with various groups. Art communautaire militant. Projets 2012-2013. Montreal: Engrenage Noir / ROUAGE, 2013, 36.

[2] Or 2004, according to the website of the Community Clinic of Pointe-Saint-Charles <http://ccpsc.qc.ca/fr/node/251>.

[3] For more information on the organization, see their website. <http://engrenagenoir.ca/rouage/?lang=en>.

[4] For more information about the creation of the mural, see Le Collectif au Pied du Mur. The Pointe All Dressed. Montreal, 2013 (available at the public library of Pointe-Saint-Charles), and their website <http://lecollectifaupieddumur.tumblr.com>.

[5] This information comes from my inteview of Marco Silvestro, the coordinator of the projet and painter of the three Indigenous peoples on the left part on the mural painting.

[5] Measuring 80 metres by 5, the mural La Pointe All Dress is the longest permanent mural of Montreal. <http://lecollectifaupieddumur.tumblr.com/post/61412041445/inauguration-of-the-longest-permanent-mural>.

[6] Le Collectif au Pied du Mur, Ibid.

[7] This information comes from my inteview of Marco Silvestro, the coordinator of the projet.

[8]  Indigenous peoples represent 0,8% of the total population in the South-West of Montreal, when the average is 0,5% and the maximum is 1% for the city of Dorval. Division des affaires économiques et institutionnelles de la ville de Montréal. Portrait de la Population autochtone à Montréal, 2010. Web. 16 Feb. 2016.

[9] Cited in Francis, Daniel. The Imaginary Indian: The Image of the Indian in Canadian Culture, Second Edition. Vancouver, BC, CAN: Arsenal Pulp Press, 2011. ProQuest ebrary. Web. 18 April 2016.

Estelle Wathieu