Five tall glass-beaded panels that celebrate Indigenous teachings and the biodiversity of Hamilton now stand overlooking the city’s waterfront.
“All Our Relations” is a public art display at the foot of James Street North that was designed by local Indigenous artist Angela DeMontigny, along with collaborators Paull Rodrigue Glass, Cobalt Connects, Lafontaine Iron Werks Inc. and EXP.
The five 40-foot panels contain thousands of colourful glass beads and were unveiled on Saturday during a ceremony that also acknowledged Sept. 30 as the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation.
DeMontigny’s work was selected by a panel of jurors out of two dozen proposals submitted for the West Harbour art installation.
She calls it her “love letter to Mother Earth and to all of creation” and says she hopes the space will become a place that everyone in Hamilton can enjoy.
“We have a dedicated space here – for not only the urban indigenous community in the city to gather and have ceremonies, but for everyone to gather,” said DeMontigny, who is Cree and Métis.
“This project was about participation and community building, and I’m so thankful to all the volunteers who came and put in some beads.”
It took almost 18 months for Paul Rodrigue Glass to create all 7,710 handmade glass beads for the art piece, and dozens of volunteers helped to install the beads throughout this past summer.
The ceremony began with grey skies but the sun gradually emerged, shining through the multi-coloured beads for the crowd of more than a hundred who turned up for Saturday’s ceremony.
One of the speakers at the ceremony was Norma Jacobs, introduced as being of the Wolf Clan in the Cayuga Nation of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, and a longhouse faith-keeper and an advisor to the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.
Jacobs said events like Saturday’s ceremony highlight how important it is to listen to each other, especially those whose stories haven’t been heard until very recently.