Atak by Monika Rumbolt
Commissioned by Dianne Saxe
Artist Statement
I choose the woodland art style because it is traditionally used when telling a story or legend. The story the work portrays is that of how Indigenous people in Canada are adapting to food sovereignty. The common element throughout the painting is ... how everything in nature is intertwined, and what effects one, will eventually affect the other.
As the effects of COVID are felt throughout the world, Indigenous people are heavily relying on land based knowledge to close the gap being left by unreliable transportation, restrictions, and food shortages in their small communities. On the heels of the newly implemented gun ban, strategically placed before the "spring hunt", many Indigenous people are left to break the law and face jail time / potential police brutality to feed their families, or run the risk of starvation. The people of the north are forced to take these risks based on the lack of food security and the financial burden of the high cost of living. (Heat, housing, food, electricity).
It’s because of COVID that we find ourselves moving in the direction of true self-reliance and like the mighty bear, we will adapt to our surroundings and learn to live in this "new normal".
“Atak” (means “Connected” in Inuktitut; Labrador dialect) / 2020 Acrylic Painting / Woodland Style (Anishnabe Painting)