Active Learning Classroom Mural
"Unfettered Access for Our Grandchildren," a piece by Miranda Black, TMU alumnus and Haudenosaunee visual artist, was chosen by a selection committee of Indigenous and non-Indigenous members of the TMU community as the feature wall art for the Kerr Hall West 57 Active Learning Classroom.
The call for proposals sought an original design that responded to themes identified in (google doc) consultations with TMU's Indigenous community (external link) : integrating Indigenous culture and history, creating welcoming spaces, and bringing nature inside.
Interactive Mural Tour
Unfettered Access for our Grandchildren was derived during conversations with an Indigenous knowledge holder when conducting interviews for my master’s thesis about Indigenous relationships to Toronto Island. One knowledge keeper said that their dream for the future of Toronto Island was for their grandchildren to have unfettered access to Toronto Island, “I want him to have access to his rice. Unfettered access to rice and unfettered access to salmon. All the things that everybody else has enjoyed at his expense.”
Inspired by Indigenous Futurisms, the piece depicts children wearing regalia and celebrating their Indigeneity. This is a dream for the future for all Nations on Turtle Island as lost culture and languages due to the residential school system has led to cultural dispossession, making it harder and harder for Indigenous Peoples be proud of their cultures, learn their traditions, and find teachers of their traditional languages. We’ve started the journey to revitalization of our cultures and languages but there is a long way to go before racism and oppression will be obsolete.
In the future, I would like to see this changed through restitution to Indigenous Peoples. As Kerr Hall was once the site of the Toronto Normal School, which was the institution where residential school teachers were taught, it seems fitting that the prayers nestled in this painting now live here. May all of our children and future generations work to undo the pain and trauma caused by this system.
Nia’wen,
Miranda Black
Miranda Black is an Indigenous alumnus of Toronto Metropolitan University with a BA (Honours) in Urban and Environmental Sustainability and an MASc in Environmental Applied Science and Management. Her lineage is Mohawk of the Bay of Quinte and mixed ancestry. Miranda is an advocate for Indigenous Human Rights and recognizes that her work must always align with the values of her elders and ancestors.
To situate Indigenous art in a classroom, I think is critical…We're using a tool that is familiar to our community members. Art is something that is both [a] formal and informal way in which Indigenous people teach those that are young, and on their learning journeys.
Having Indigenous art being displayed at our university is so important. It's important for the students, faculty, and staff to see their culture and their history reflected. It is the opportunity to begin conversations in the classroom, for people to be exposed to it, where at other times they may never be exposed to Indigenous art.
Acknowledgments
Thank you to Miranda Black for sharing her art and thank you to Joanne Dallaire and Monica McKay for sharing their teachings.
This project has been made possible by the Teaching and Learning Spaces Working Group, the Active Learning Classroom Subcommittee, the Call for Emerging Indigenous Artist Adjudication Committee, the Indigenous Space Sub-Working Group, the many contributors to the Community Consultations on Design Standards for Indigenous Learning Spaces, and to the staff of the Centre for Excellence in Learning & Teaching and Facilities Management & Development.
Thank you to our sponsors
Centre for Excellence in Learning & Teaching and Facilities Management & Development