Bear” witness, to what is “written” through rhythm, gesture, light, shadow and Spirit.
As you see the visual of the bear walking against text, he is animated, illuminated, with a knowledge of his own. Through guttural, animalistic gesture, he is heard speaking, toward land and culture. The Bear is talking, as he circles the boundary, of the dictionary in an effort to protect our ideologies from being overcome, erased, and replaced, by text. As we witness his refusal toward containment within the environment of “cognitive imperialism”
He Speaks
She Speaks
“They Speak-We speak”
Toward the decoding of a language
That originally sought to conquer our own.
He- Bears the scars born of his duty to maintain and protect (land and language) and She- bears the responsibility, of breaking, transforming the boundaries of these disparate (rhythm vs. ‘ism) ideologies. The artist / the bear, position new ground, of old distinction, with the hope for engaging in a just dialogue, of true democratic reconciliation. And yet- to prescribe any postcolonial position; we are first required to briefly “diagnose the disease” Milan Kundera once prescribed oppression, under imperialism as….
“The struggle of man against power-as the struggle of memory -against forgetting”
If the process of imperialism is an attempt to eradicate cognition / Indigenous memories of relationships to land, language, and ideology; then the effort to resist this type of erasure, must be to upload our cultural consciousness, as a means of not forgetting.
Indigenous artists for thousands of years had always maintained this function of uploading consciousness into our art forms. Norris “bears witness” to this, as she tells us of her own survival, of a history, that came with the forced imposition of an ideology initially inserted through language. The angst of this consciousness, is returned toward text, through the Spirit of the Bear’ devouring the dictionary.
The bear – ingests text
Not only -as a weapon of defense. -Against containment, in text
But by-ingesting text.
He internalizestext
In order to decode it
& “un-write the empire”
The bears teachings are two fold –First- to resist homogeneity / the erasure of memory, by refusing to be contained within only one singular language / frame of thought; as he is recognized to carry his culture forward. Seemingly contrary to this-the bear also suggests that the participants seek / ingest as many alterior ideologies, as we are capable (while remaining distinct) so that we may increase the possibility of building our emancipation,through engaging multiple understandings,that will in turn be transmitted towards the hearts and minds of “others.”
Towards those -who do not yet know-what we know.
Which is…if you can ingest my text- you may, feel my heart
“If you speak to a man in a language that he understands
It goes to his mind
But if you speak to a man in a language
That’s his own-
It goes to his heart”
The quote above tells of the importance of using language as a decolonization strategy. Spoken by Nelson Mandela. Suggesting that, if our goal is in working towards sovereignty then we must speak to the heart of others, not only in defense of self, (Land, Language and ideology) but instead with the aspiration to develop a shared understanding-, so that we may engage one-another with empathy, in working towards a true postcolonial space.
Rodney Bobiwash an Anishnawbe scholar, activist and warrior had also stated thus, when he said….
“Let them weep,”
For the tens of millions of our ancestors buried beneath that pavement and concrete;
(…) And, allow those tears to wash away the scales of willful ignorance from their eyes,
So that they may join us in the redemption of the earth,
In the salvation of humankind
And (also) in the reclamation of history
Indigenous artists have carried this function of reclaiming / rewriting history since contact and today-Norris attempts to “wash away the scales of ignorance” by suggesting that the witness - ingest text
Of Land language- Of Our language- Of Bear language
So those, by becoming familiar with a language of disparate ideology, may work toward, increasing our knowledge base, and protect our cultural geographies from becoming extinct. Norris uploads this type of critical consciousness through the use of audio-where one must employ headphones; making the participant, go inside oneself, in an inserted effort to listen. Once inside the audio-you hear / ingest, altering languages / cultural communication systems relaying differing definitions of the term “bear.”
They speak,
In English and Cree,
Accompanied by the guttural, animal
Ancestral sounds
Of bear -defining “bear”
Main Entry: 1bear
Function: noun
Bear: any of a family of large heavy mammals of America and Eurasia that have long shaggy hair, rudimentary tails, and plantigrade feet and feed largely on fruit, plant matter, and insects as well as on flesh
Bear: something difficult to do or deal with
To bear arms
To bear the weight of oppression
To bear the responsibility of protecting land and language
And in not becoming forgotten
The same responsibility that is evident in Norris installation titled “Highly populated Antler Series”
see artist link for imagery
http://www.judenorris.com/installation-work/indigenous-metropolisimmigrant-wilderness
Which situates a moose antler hanging from the ceiling, by a crudely knotted noose. The Hanging Antler is further weighted, by video projections of a highly populated New York city, street scene.Where both- the people projected and the moose-have in reality-all been displaced. We can hear the pandemonium of the streets, by the pounding of their feet. Reminiscent, of the thousands of “trail(s) of tears” that have been forced upon this world. The removal of Indigenous peoples from ancestral lands. The exodus of a mass migration of moose / of people, speaks towards the countless others who have also been stripped of sovereignty, dispossessed of Land, left fragmented, broken divided, missing parts of our epistemological foundations, upon which we are dependant for survival. By sharing our stories in text and audio/ uploading our consciousness into our art forms and also online, we may recognize each other and begin to unify; in solidarity –to honor the diversity amongst our memories.
Norris has created the grounds for us to share our experiences, so we will not forget.
The Animated antler reads as a ground to meet, share / re- write our memories. The Antler acts as a type of “mystical magical writing pad” that maintains its diversity, by giving precedence toward Judes’ geography. The artist maintains her local knowledge by uploading her consciousness as being genetically embedded within the landscape of the antler.
Norris is also genetically embedded within the Buffalo. As women-we are genetically embedded within all that is living. Our women are respected as being “the direct manifestation of Earth in Human form” (laduke) these teachings inform us that the Land is Our Mother. She is the living / breathing infrastructure that provides us with the essence of Being; She nourishes Us with the basis of our inherent, epistemological systems.
The buffalo is representative of woman
When The White Buffalo Woman first appeared to us she taught us the basis of our responsibility toward “all manners of life” She carried with her a Sacred Pipe, that is the tool used in bringing us together. The Buffalo / Puskwa Moostoos (in Plains Cree) emanates majesty, power and wisdom, bravery, tenacity, and strength of community. The buffalo in the past provided for all of our needs and sustenance by offering herself to the people. For this nourishment and matriarchal devotion we remember & honor ,serve, revere and protect her. For If the buffalo demise, it is also equal to the demise of our women.When Norris uploaded the consciousness of a buffalo online, her purpose was two fold
In speaking
Toward survival & the resistance of erasure.
She also worked toward
“Recovering the sacred” (laduke)
As the buffalo is seen, emanating from the screen, the Power of her Spirit is illuminated-animated beyond the border of any physical domain. Her Spirit has become repopulated within alterior geography, created in binary. The artist transformer, shape shifter, has transformed aspects of the fourth world, into a new ground of alternative territories
Is the buffalo breathing in binary? Can Spider web theories allow- for Spirit -in cyberspace? Well, Yes! If we look to string theory as spider theory, when all is in harmony, is the same as saying “all is related.” Spider / String theory, as an understanding of cyberspace, enables the indigenous consciousness to be successfully animated / uploaded/into the web. And like the bear, our consciousness will not chose to be contained solely within another’s “cognitive imperialism” Because the Spirit of the bear is able to walk beyond the boundaries of both physical and virtual space. The Creator/ artist-has uploaded an Indigenous consciousness- (through he bear, antler and buffalo) in order to re-write / over-ride - the divide.
Norris- “Yeah! (An) intertribal ether-territory.”
Guillermo Gomes Pena from The New Barbarians 12.23.06 @ 02:08 pacific
A declaration of poetic disobedience from the New Border
Winona Laduke from Recovering The Sacred: The Power Of Naming And Claiming (Hardcover - 2005-03-01) Publisher: South End Press
Marie Battiste- “Reclaiming Indigenous Voice and Vision”
4 gomes pena
5-The Book of Laughter and Forgetting is a novel by Milan Kundera, published in 1979.
Howard Adams “"we've internalized the values of our oppressors"
Rodney Bobiwash
