The Ceremony of Place: Mazinaabikiniganan as Sites of Resistance and Renewal

• In Event: Place, Pathways, Persistence, and Protection in Schooling

Abstract

Mazinaabikiniganan, known as ‘rock art’ or ‘pictographs’ in settler discourse, are literally stories written on the land that are typically viewed from a settler-colonial standpoint as mysterious and disassociated from contemporary Indigenous communities. This paper presents research conducted with Batchewana First Nation, exploring how mazinaabikiniganan within Lake Superior Provincial Park act as sites where Indigenous peoples can reclaim histories and knowledge that have been denied through acts of settler-colonialism. Using a storywork method framed within an Indigenous, decolonizing framework, six community members shared their stories and perspectives. It was found that as salient features of the landscape, mazinaabikiniganan are reminders of Indigenous presence and knowledge and have great potential for Indigenous education.

Author

• Melissa Twance, Lakehead University