This video explores topics covered by "Native Nature: Longfellow's Wild America," an exhibition of 19th-century books at Robertson Davies Library, located at Massey College at the University of Toronto. This exhibit was curated by Rowan Red Sky and represents one of the outcomes of her practicum project for the Book History and Print Culture program at U of T.
What is Wilderness? It turns out wilderness is created very much in the mind, and is a reflection of one's way of thinking and relating to the land. Nineteenth-century travelers, artists, and literati enjoyed ideas about the connection between Indigenous people and nature in places they considered 'wild' and outside the realm of civilization. The European perception of North American Indigenous peoples' relationships to the forests and fields also influenced their ideas about the 'inner nature' of those people.
* Note on the use of the term "Indian": Throughout this video the word "Indigenous" is used when discussing real people. The term "Indian" is used selectively to discuss an idea or image of Indigenous people that was imagined by nineteenth-century people. The term reflects historical attitudes but is also used by some Indigenous people today to reclaim it. In the present-day, "Indian" continues to be a legal categorization of some Indigenous Canadians.
This video was made by Rowan Red Sky, a member of Oneida Nation of the Thames. She graduated from the Publications program at OCAD University in 2015 and now works as an artist making illustrations that draw from the oral tradition of her Indigenous culture and her personal experiences. Maps, the animacy of the land and the performance of stories inspire her work. Currently she is a PhD student at the University of Toronto in the Art History program and Book History and Print Culture program.
Link to website: rowanredsky.format.com
Link to Rowan's KZread channel: / @rowanredsky
Special thanks to Andreea Marin and Claire Battershill for supporting this exhibition project and the creation of this video.
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