From Bradley Clements
This issue marks the fourth birthday of the GRASAC Newsletter, first sent out on March 1, 2020! Our little newsletter is well into pre-school by now!
As we all know, a lot has happened in the meantime, starting with a global pandemic. When we first started work on setting up the newsletter we could not have anticipated how timely it would be to establish this way of being in communication: within weeks of the first newsletter issue, COVID shut down many of our usual ways of meeting and sharing. Another thing that has changed over those four years is that our subscribers have grown from a little over 200 in 2020 to around 400 today!
On this anniversary, I want to give a quick shout-out to a few of the people who have been a huge help in bringing this newsletter to you over the past four years: Olivia White (2020-2021), Shenella Charles (2021-2023), and now Carlie Manners. They have all done so much excellent editorial work and have been an absolute privilege to work with. GRASAC’s co-directors Cara Krmpotich and Heidi Bohaker have supported us throughout.
Most of all, thank you to those of you who contribute to this newsletter! It is by and for GRASACers, and we have heard how much your contributions mean to your fellow readers. As a little highlight reel selected from many great articles, here are a few of your contributions:
- Birdstones Visit at the ROM, by Mina Ali
- Kay-Nah-Chi-Wah-Nung Gathering, by Pamela Klassen, Art Hunter, Krista Barclay, & Teagan de Laronde
- GRASAC RA Reflects on Indigenous Heritage Month Celebrations in Guyana, by Shenella Charles
- “Toronto Exhibition” Haudenosaunee Raised Beadwork, by Heather George
- To Honour and Respect: Gifts from Michi Saagiig Women to the Prince of Wales, 1860, by Lori Beavis & Laura Peers
- From the GKS: A Cloth Woman’s Beaded Hood, by Sheila Wheesk
- Affective Responses to Normalized Violence in Museums, by Stephanie Mach
- A Gift of Alliance: Tecumseh’s Pipe Tomahawk, by Autumn Epple
- CROYAN – The French Royal Collections from North America, by Leandro Varison
- New and Renewed Institutional Relationships, by various contributors
- No, Not Even For Picture: Re-examining the Native Midwest and Tribes’ Relations to the History of Photography – Virtual Exhibition, by Veronica Cook Williamson & Lindsey Willow Smith
- Interview with Lori Beavis, Executive Director of Centre d’art Daphne, by Lori Beavis & Olivia White
- Traditional Arts of the Anishinaabek Virtual Exhibit, by the Leelanau Historical Society
- All Eyes on Mi’kma’ki as Mi’kmaq Fight for Recognition of Moderate Livelihood Fisheries, by Alexander Ross
- The Bonga Family: An Alternative Black History, by Sherry Farrell Racette & Cory Willmott
- In Search of Wampum in England, by Margaret Bruchac
- Interview with Ruth Phillips upon her retirement, by Ruth Phillips & Bradley Clements
Finally, thank you to you for continuing to read the newsletter: you are the reason it is sent out each month. As always, please send any news that you would like to share, pass along any feedback, and share the newsletter with potential interested subscribers!