The program takes place from 10am to 3pm, Monday to Friday, from Tuesday, July 3 to Friday, July 27.

The application deadline is Friday, May 25, 2012.

Application Form [pdf]

Frequently Asked Questions

What is covered?
All program fees will be covered, including instruction, materials and admission to all related activities. Funding for this program is provided in part by the First People’s Heritage, Language and Culture Council of BC.

What is not covered?
Transportation to and around Vancouver, accommodation and meals are not provided.

What is the selection process?
Following the application deadline, a selection committee will review applications. Successful applicants will be notified in late May 2012.

Where is the program located?
The program takes place at the Granville Island campus of Emily Carr University in Vancouver.

“In 1981 Cheryl traveled the world to study the old robes and a few remaining fragments. Using notes and photographs taken during her research trips, she reconstructed the old techniques and wove a new robe…Since 1985 she has worked for the University of Alaska, traveling to coastal communities and remote villages to share her knowledge with the descendants of the original weavers. Two decades ago there were no Ravenstail robes in use on the coast; today they dance in ceremony and potlatch, a pride of the people who make and wear them.”

Over 2 1/2 days we learned how to make a Box of Daylight Medicine Bag. Many thanks to Cheryl for sharing her knowledge with us!

Tuesday, March 6
7pm to 10pm
Emily Carr University of Art + Design
Aboriginal Gathering Place

Alanis Obomsawin is a member of the Abenaki Nation, She began her career as a singer, writer and storyteller, but dove into filmmaking in 1967 with Christmas at Moose Factory. Her early films include Incident at Restigouche (1984), a powerful depiction of the Quebec police raid of a Micmac reserve; Richard Cardinal: Cry from a Diary of a Métis Child (1986), the disturbing examination of an adolescent suicide; and No Address (1988), a look at Montreal’s homeless.

Ms. Obomsawin is best known for her feature-length film on the 1990 Mohawk uprising in Kanehsatake and Oka: Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance (1993), which won 18 international awards.

Most recently, Ms. Obomsawin directed the 2007 National Film Board of Canada documentary Gene Boy Came Home, about Vietnam War veteran Eugene “Gene Boy” Benedict, from her home community of Odanak.

Emily Carr University of Art + Design
Concourse Gallery
1399 Johnston St
Vancouver, BC

From the Vancouver Art Gallery website:

Beat Nation reflects a generation of artists who juxtapose urban youth culture with Aboriginal identity in entirely innovative and unexpected ways. Using hip hop and other forms of popular culture, artists create surprising new cultural hybrids—in painting, sculpture, installation, performance and video—that reflect the changing demographics of Aboriginal people today.

The Globe and Mail review includes profiles of Emily Carr alumni Sonny Assu and Skeena Reece.

Vancouver is located in the heart of traditional Aboriginal territory and as the city celebrates the 125th year of its founding, Come and Dance honours the traditional and contemporary dance of our Aboriginal communities.

Dance is a vital component of spiritual and creative expression for many Aboriginal cultures. As Métis performers, CVD believes that dance can communicate profound emotions and ideas. The Festival, which invites participants to “come and dance”, will build connections between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal dance communities as well as the wider communities that make up contemporary Vancouver.

The event is an expansion of CVD’s successful Louis Riel Day Celebration, held each year in mid-November. This year, we mark Louis Riel Day on November 16th with a free community event at the Aboriginal Friendship Centre. Everyone is invited as we celebrate Louis Riel and start the Festival.

For more information on the schedule, tickets and performers visit the Compaigni V’ni Dansi website.

Come and Dance: An Aboriginal Dance Festival
November 16 to 19
The ScotiaBank Dance Centre (677 Davie Street) and the Aboriginal Friendship Centre (1607 E Hastings St)

Painting on Drum by Diamond Point

The Museum of Anthropology is holding a celebration in recognition of their longstanding relationship with the Musqueam First Nation.

…we invite you to join us on the afternoon of Sunday, September 18, to witness MOA’s welcome plaza receiving the Musqueam name xʷə iwən ce:p kʷθəθ nəὠeyəɬ, ”Remember your teachings.” As part of the celebration, we will also be commemorating the installation of two Musqueam artworks, Salish Footprint by Susan Point and Transformation by Joe Becker. Join us for an afternoon of music, performance, hands-on activities, artist demonstrations, film screenings, and a taste of salmon and bannock. Everyone welcome.

Sunday, September 18,  2:00-4:00pm
Free with regular admission

This exhibit began with a simple question, what can emerge when indigenous and non-indigenous artists offer their take on the second line of Canada’s national anthem, Our Home and Native Land?

The collection of works in this exhibit showcase a myriad of voices and perspectives. Each artist has gracefully agreed to share their works for this public space art exhibit, in an effort to ignite conversations around land, solidarity, and historical amnesia.

September 15 – November 4, 2011
Monday – Friday, 9am-5pm

Opening Night: September 15
5pm, film screening and discussion
6:30pm, reception

Lobby Gallery
Liu Institute for Global Issues
6476 NW Marine Drive
UBC Vancouver Campus / Musqueam Territory

Longing #10, 2011

Emily Carr graduate, Sonny Assu, has an exhibition coming up at the West Vancouver Museum.

September 13 to November 5
Opening Reception: September 13, 7pm-9pm
Artist Talk: October 19, 7pm

Longing is an installation of innovative, new work by Vancouver-based artist Sonny Assu composed of sculptures and photographs. The sculptures are found objects now displayed conceptually as “masks.” As found objects they provide the core focus of the investigation undertaken by the artist. Within this context, found is juxtaposed to lost, or an art and culture altered or displaced by conditions of colonialism and European settlement. The artist uses longing to suggest a history reexamined and reclaimed.

West Vancouver Museum
680 17th Street
West Vancouver

Indigenous people negotiate their world through various modes of travel, producing a complex relationship between the individual and the land. This group of artists provides deeply personal and intimate articulations about the world around them. Works have been selected from the National Gallery of Canada’s collection to include First Nations and Inuit artists from across the country as well as Indigenous artists from the United States and New Zealand.

The exhibition runs from May 28 to September 18 and includes work from another Emily Carr grad, Sonny Assu.