Project to return to Cumberland House in late October
For the rest of the month of October, Studio Q in downtown Prince Albert will be home to the creation of The Saskatchewan River Delta’s awareness art project with Saulteaux Artist Wally Dion that will honour and pay tribute to the largest inland delta in North America, that holds deep cultural and community roots.
Cumberland House Cree Nation, home for Sask. River Delta Project Coordinator Aaliyah Flett brought the project to life with inspiration from not only her family’s connection, but the connection that the delta holds to all surrounding communities, after witnessing the steady decline of the land over the past few decades.
“I got started last year around this time, I’m from Cumberland House, and my entire family is from there, and so when I was online, I noticed a lot of people were posting photos of the water in Cumberland Lake which was really alarming,” Flett said.
“The Big Stone River, which is where all my childhood memories were, with community gathering and stuff, the river was almost non-existent.”
Flett said that it was very shocking to see how much the lake had declined, from low levels to even lower, and to read her family members’ concerned comments saying, ‘something needs to be done’.
Flett recalled memories of her child-self swimming in the river, and thoughts of concern for her cousins and her future family members not being able to experience anything similar in the lake or river. She said that it’s not just Cumberland House that is affected, but all the other communities that rely on and have connections to the delta.
“The way that our elders talk about the land is with such beauty,” Flett explained. “They were swimming all day, they hauled their own water, they had gardens. It’s really crazy tot hingk that was reality for everyone. They were fishermen, they would bring in thousands of pounds of fish, that was how they supported their families.”
Flett explained that the North Saskatchewan River were water highways, where canoes, and steamboats could travel, which is now impossible in the current water levels. She said if you even tried to take a canoe, you would have to portage most of the way due to the sandbanks.
Flett also explained how the delta relates to everyone, that everyone is connected through the North and South Saskatchewan Rivers, and the delta, but now the delta is in danger and nobody knows.
“The thing is, our elders have been talking about this for decades, but nobody really listened to brown people back in the day,” Flett said. “All that we are sharing is their messages and our lived experiences because our communities are really struggling up north.”
Flett explained how the construction and presence of the E.B. Campbell Hydroelectric Station and related dam have made such a huge impact on the delta.
“There’s so many really awful things that are happening, with drugs, gangs, and unhoused (peoples) and things like that,” Flett said. “I really think that land is something that wasn’t really taken into consideration when you think about things like that. When the dam opened, thousands of families were displaced because that’s how they were divided.
Flett recalled a documentary that featured Wilford Buck’s story, from Opaswayak Cree Nation, near the Pas in Manitoba, which is also connected to the Delta. She connected his experience to the current situation within all the northern communities near the delta.
“He talked about how hydroelectricity killed his grandpa, he said that it was the equivalent to the government shooting him with a gun,” Flett explained. “That led to the cycle of families where abuse and things like that were present, and that led to him being homeless. I think that’s the reality of what we’re facing today in our cities and in our reserves.”
From a lunch conversation with her grandmother, Flett learned about the original name of the river, “Iskwew Pawistik” which was named after the indigenous women whose canoe had capsized. When the E.B. Campbell Dam opened, they named the body of water the “Squaw Rapids”, which is a historically derogatory term aimed towards indigenous people. She said that the opening also had merchandise with an indigenous woman as the mascot, which seemed like a mockery of the history of the area.
Alongside that mockery of indigenous women, Flett added that in the Hudson’s Bay notes and journals in the archives, do not mention women at all; as if they didn’t exist.
This inspired Flett to create a banner that honours the original Swampy Cree name of the Rapids, that she shared with friends and community.
“Other people wanted to contribute to this reality that we’re being faced with, I think everyone is affected through it because we’re all a part of the delta, whether you like it or not,” Flett said. “Everything we do upstream affects what happens downstream, so I thought this would be a really beautiful way to promote connection through water, because water is life.”
The banner led to conversations with Alex Powalinsky at Studio Q, when Flett was just beginning as an intern with Community Building Youth Futures (CBYFPA). Flett said Powalinsky helped create the project grant and connect with artist Wally Dion.
“I think the delta really encapsulates everything, history and present times, all the birds, animals and living organisms depend on the delta,” Flett said. “I’ve been really excited but also really sad and mournful about the delta. Thinking about the actual reality of it is sad, you’re mourning a land that you will never experience in your lifetime, but we’re hoping this piece will shed light on the community history and knowledge which is very, very important.”
Flett and Powalinsky visited Dion in Winnipeg at the University of Manitoba, for his opening of his piece called ‘A Thousand Tiny Prayers’, where he accepted the partnership. The group then visited the site of the delta and the dam, before funding for the grant was approved in June. Flett announced the project at the awareness gathering organized by Iskwewak Indigenous Saskatchewan Women’s Environmental Water Advocacy Keepers in Prince Albert in August.
The project invites everyone in Prince Albert and area to come, hangout, and be a part of the making process, from 1p.m. to 5p.m. every Thursday to Saturday at Studio Q until Oct. 29. On Oct.29 the project will be unveiled in Cumberland House.
Flett said she hopes the finished project can travel around to spread awareness and inspire others. The future of the Sask. River Delta group will be in the Youth Taking Charge Project, made up of a 20-member youth council.
