The spirit awakens
Celebration of Nations, a gathering of Indigenous arts, culture and tradition, takes place this weekend
Suzanne Rochon-Burnett wanted her art collection to speak long after she died.
She wanted people to hear its message. Hear the voices of the Indigenous artists that she had believed in and supported. Indeed, she spent a lifetime promoting Aboriginal artists and was a fiercely proud Métis woman.
When Rochon-Burnett died at age 71 in Welland in 2006, she passed the responsibility on to her daughter, Michele-Elise Burnett.
She shares her mother’s philosophy: “Art doesn’t always need to stay on the same wall,” says Burnett.
“Art needs to move around, to share its energy.
“It has energy. It has teachings.”
Starting this today, select pieces from her mother’s art collection will be seen on new walls.
A selection of paintings, mixed media, sculpture and even pieces of her mother’s clothing and jewelry will make up the Awakening Her Spirit exhibition at the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts. It will be on display until Sept. 30. The exhibition is part of the overall Celebration of Nations, a gathering of Indigenous arts, culture and tradition happening in downtown St. Catharines Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
The event will showcase a variety of Indigenous arts and artists, including traditional and contemporary music, dance and visual arts, film screenings, creative workshops, teachings and hands-on activities for children and adults.
Highlights include performances by Buffy Sainte-Marie, DJ Shub (formerly of A Tribe Called Red) and a Niagara premiere of the award-winning film Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World and Gord Downie’s, The Secret Path.
Burnett is the artistic director of Celebration of Nations, an event she hopes will speak to all audiences.
She comes by her passion honestly.
Her mother was an advocate and champion of Indigenous art. She helped to promote First Nations artists to ensure they received the respect and recognition that they deserved, says Burnett.
“Mom had a great eye for art. She would find artists that would make a difference.”
And yet, her mother grew up afraid to show her Métis heritage.
“My mother had to live a white life, trapped as an indigenous person in her mind, body and soul,” she says.
“She was not allowed to speak, to let people know she was Indigenous.”
And then, in the mid-1970s, she faced a crossroads in life.
“She said, ‘I can’t pretend anymore. I can’t live like this.’ So she decided to divorce society and become the true self that she is.”
From then on, her life became a journey to embrace her Indigenous heritage.
She was a woman who transformed herself from a glamorous socialite who attended Shaw Festival openings in custom-made designer clothing, to a woman who returned to her roots in all aspects of her life. And was just as glamorous wearing a leather poncho trimmed in coyote fur.
“She turned it around to make it absolutely stunning,” says Burnett.
When she was presented with the Order of Canada in 2003, she wore her Métis sash and held an eagle feather in her hands.
Among her many accomplishments, she owned and operated Spirit 91.7 FM radio in Welland. She also became co-founder and first vice-chair of the Métis Nation of Ontario. She was part of boards at TV Ontario, the Ontario Arts Council and the Canadian Council of the Arts.
Among her legacies is a scholarship at Brock University, which helps Indigenous students achieve a university education.
Continuing her mother’s mission is a responsibility Burnett doesn’t take lightly.
“These women and men who came before us, who were real trailblazers, they paved a path for us, for this generation to pick up and to continue their legacy,” she says.
“It’s our responsibility to pick it up and to continue where they left off.”
Burnett feels a duty to teach through the voice of art.
“To educate the untold stories, the untold history of our people,” she says.
“Because people only know what they know.
“If you only know what you’ve been given or been told to know, that’s all you’re going to know.” She hopes art will bring cultures together.
“To work together to make a stronger, unified, peaceful place for our children.”