Indian Act —2002
“The Indian Act, which was enacted in 1876 when Canada was created, allows the government to control most aspects of aboriginal life: Indian status, land, resources, wills, education, band administration and so on.
The Indian Act is part of a long history of assimilation policies that intended to terminate the cultural, social, economic, and political distinctiveness of Aboriginal peoples by absorbing them into mainstream Canadian life and values.”
The Indian Act was amended many times. on April 17, 1985, after a 15+ year struggle led by Mary Two-Axe Earley, Bill C-31 was passed.
it finally revised Indian status to address the gender discrimination of the Act.
The Indian Act of 1985 abolished enfranchisement and restored status to those whose status had been removed through enfranchisement.
Links to other resources about enfranchisement and Mary Two-Axe Early
56 pages; glass beads, stroud cloth, thread, Indian Act (R.S., c. 1-5, 1985), each page: 46 cm x 38 cm x 5 cm. Photography: Denis Farley
In 2000 I started to bead over the Indian Act… and then invited others to join me.
By 2002 over 250 participants had helped me.
AN EXAMPLE OF MY ‘BEADING BEES’
Friends, colleagues and strangers worked with me to replace the black text of the law with red beads, and the white page with white beads.
Here we are beading outside as part of the exhibition and cultural event ‘Memoires vives’ (2002) at the Montreal Museum of History.
Beading Bee at Oboro Gallery, Montreal, 2001. From Left to Right: Barbara Todd, Nadia Myre, Bernard Bilodeau, and Rebecca Anweiler.
Installation view of Indian Act in my solo exhibition Scattered Remains / Tout ce qui reste at the Montreal Museum of Fine Art in 2017
Portrait in motion, 2002
rethinking anthem, 2008
The scar project —2005 to 2013
scarscapes —2010
Scarscapes, Cross, 2010
Installation view of Scarscapes at the exhibition Nadia Myre: Symbology, Carleton University Art Gallery, Ottawa, ON., 2011
De quoi l'image et t'elle le nom? Momenta—Biennale de l’image, Galerie UQAM, Montreal, 2107
Meditations on Black Lake —2012
Meditations on Black Lake: Temporal, 2012, Digital archival print on rag paper, 44" x 44"
orison / oraison, 2014
Installation view, ORAISON / ORISON, OBORO, Montreal, 2014
Scattered Remains / Tout ce qui reste, Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Montreal, 2017
TRee of SHIFTING Forms, Canadian CULTURAL Centre, Paris, 2018
Install of Tree of Shifting Forms, Paris, 2018
Code Switching and Other Work, GLasgow international, glasgow, 2018
Volume 0, Venice, 2019
Light Assembly – 2023
Light Assembly: Julie, 2023, Woven handmade ceramic beads, stainless steel wire, 84 x 60 inches/214.4 x 152.4 cm
Nadia Myre — Christ Church Residency Project 2023… in Cowansville, QC
for more information or to see how you can get involved, please contact me @nadiamyre
Nadia Myre: Balancing Acts, Textile Museum, Toronto, 2019
