Re-Reading Tahltan: udenesit’ās̱ (we listen) and Marcy Friesen at AKA

Re-Reading Tahltan
Peter Morin

www.rereadingtahltan.ca

udenesit’ās̱ (we listen)
Candis Callison, Edōnemā Carolyn Doody, Alysha Hawkins, Ts̱ēmā Ingaras, Cole Pauls, Ło’oks ushyeh

A message from EzekTah (Peter Morin):
I want you to know that this website is a labour of love. Tahltan Elders. Tahltan Knowledge Leaders. Tahltan Land. Tahltan Artists. Tahtlan writers. Tahltan thinkers. Tahltan Dreamers. We are all here together. I want to also acknowledge the team of contributors who are listed here who also offered so much love/heart to this shared space. We believe in the future. We know that those old school Tahltan Elders choose to share their respective practice(s) of Tahltan knowledge/leadership with these ‘Guests’ to our territory because they also believed in the future. This website is about Tahltan futures and Tahltan world-building. Rereadingtahltan.ca is organized around two Tahltan principles – gha’asit’ās̱ (we are working) and udenesit’ās̱ (we listen). We honour this sacred space, the space between these two important actions, that honours the power and legacy of Tahltan creative knowledge and it’s the practitioners. udenesit’ās̱ (we listen) holds the creative offerings of Candis Callison, Ło’oks, Edōnemā, Tsēmā, Cole Pauls, and Alysha Hawkins. These creative forces come from both the Wolf Clan and Crow Clan. These creative forces create generations right now, from very skilled to just starting to learn. This space also acknowledges our language warriors who are also holding onto and practicing our Tahltan language sovereignty. I want you to know that udenesit’ās̱ (we listen) as a curatorial space is also a prayer for more good weather.

Re-Reading Tahltan is an artwork that invites the listener to encounter some of the older forms of Tahltan Knowledge through a contemporary Tahltan voice.

Re-Reading Tahltan examines the sometimes violent nature of historic documentation of Indigenous knowledge(s). Through the sound of a spoken voice, through breath, and the rereading out loud of these historic documents, the artist Peter Morin honours Indigenous Intellectual territories.

In the spirit of remembering, Morin has lived deeply with the four books featured in this artwork. Morin first read The Tahltan Indians by GT Emmons when he was 18 years old. This book in particular has been a feature of previous artworks. The listeners of rereading Tahltan will also come to know that these books, and the authors of these books Stone, Emmons, Teit, Duncan, are all interconnected. These books have and continue to inform each other. Rereading Tahltan asks the listener to remember those original Tahltan Elders and Tahltan Knowledge leaders who informed the production of these books.

Through the production of this artwork, Tahltan artist Peter Morin is writing a love letter to his Ancestors and to the Tahltan territory.

Morin has been producing and sharing work for 25 years now. His work has been exhibited throughout the world. His projects highlight Indigenous knowledge systems, specifically focused on the Tahltan Nation where he is a blood member.

Catch a Breeze
Marcy Friesen

April 4 to June 15, 2025
Billboard Project

Marcy Friesen is of Swampy Cree and Welsh ancestry and currently resides on a mixed farm with her family near Carrot River, SK. She comes from a long line of traditional master beaders and talented creative family members. Friesen has always felt the need to create and started her career with a small business making utilitarian objects such as mitts, hats and mukluks. After visiting an art gallery and working with her mentor, she changed her practice to experimenting with an artisanal craftsmanship that exists outside the traditional spectrum of beauty and utility. Threading through beads, leather, and furs, Friesen draws the viewer into an intimate experience using her honed skills and intuitive sensibilities toward material, colour, and presentation. In Friesen’s practice, the natural and synthetic come together in ways that are inclusive of the contemporary condition, transforming ways of understanding and expectations of cultural production.

AKA
424 20th Street West
Saskatoon, SK S7M 0X4
306 491-6102 | Accessible
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derek@akaartistrun.com
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AKA is an artist-run centre operating on Treaty Six Land that encompasses the traditional homeland of numerous First Nations, including Cree, Dene, Plains Cree, Nakota, Saulteaux, and Ojibwe, and the homeland of the Métis Nation.

Hours:
Tuesday to Friday 12 to 6pm

Projects and events are free and open to the public