Our thank you
to Keith Catton for creating this beautiful map of Thunder Bay,
Ontario, labelled in Anishinaabemowin (Ojibwe).
See the artist's statement below:
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"Thunder
Bay" by Keith Catton
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Detail
of "Thunder Bay"
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Detail
of "Thunder Bay"
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The creation of this work originally began as
a hand drawn trail map of the "Mountain McKay"; where
I grew up. Just as I was about to write in the Mountain's name
with India ink, my hand stopped- I encountered a dilemma in my
project. For it was not my intent to propagate place names of
Colonial history with my art. Names like McKay (a fur trader)
and Loch Lomond (named after a lake in Scotland). Its is important
for me to honour my hometown history and the original people of
Thunder Bay, the Anishinaabe, while also creating art which inspires
critical thought. I was in search of the oldest names that I could
find. I spent days riffling through collections of French maps
from the 1600's. "Kaministiqua"; was always present,
signifying its importance in fur trade history. It seemed I had
hit a wall at that early point, just like my ink, the trail ran
dry.
I began searching through books and reading local
history. Eventually I happened upon a research paper that a famous
local librarian wrote and published in 1921, later reprinted in
the collection Life in a Thundering Bay (2007). It just happens
the library I frequented during my childhood was named after her.
Mary J. L. Black, of The Thunder Bay Historical Society, published
Place Names in the Vicinity of Fort William (1921). Black was
equally inquisitive about local History as she had interviewed
a number of individuals on the place names including translations
and stories. The Ojibway language was of the oral tradition and
thus numerous names and spellings existed for each location. Around
that time a friend at Waverly Library showed me an Ojibway Dictionary
from the 1800s by Frederic Baraga, which I then used to cross
reference Ms. Blacks paper. I followed a pattern using the
oldest names but the contemporary spelling for Anemki. The original
names either described the landscape or described a spiritual
belief attached to the location. For example, the choice of using
"Thunder Point" over "Thunder Cape", for when
consulting the map the landform points toward Thunder Mountain.
This was one of the great revelations I had during my research.
The art was drawn with calligraphy pens and ink.
The prints are then created by silkscreen and each print completed
with hand water-coloring. The visual style is reminiscent of the
past, a conceptual decision meant to in a sense amend time. I
present this map not as the singular description. But as a medium
to hopefully spark further conversation and curiosity in the community
consciousness.
Keith Catton
2016
http://slantedfallingsunlight.blogspot.ca/2016/04/thunder-bay.html
Anemki Wikwed |
Thunder Bay, Bay of Thunder |
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Animosaigaigun |
Dog Lake |
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Animiki Neiashi |
Thunder Point |
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Kakabeka |
"high
cliff falls" |
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Kaministiquia |
"river
that winds" |
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Kasasagadadjiqegamishkag |
"the high
lake that is always overflowing" |
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Anemki Wajiw |
Thunder Mountain |
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Kitchi Gami |
Great Water,
Great Lake |
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