Kunapipi XXV:2

ANNE COLLETT

Nadia Myre: A History of Unequal Halves

When a Frenchman trades with them [the Indians], he takes into his services one of their Daughters, the one, presumably, who is most to his taste; he asks the Father for her, & under certain conditions, it is arranged; he promises to give the Father some blankets, a few shirts, a Musket, Powder & Shot, Tobacco & Tool; they come to an agreement at last, & the exchange is made. The Girl, who is familiar with the Country, undertakes, on her part, to serve the Frenchman in every way, to dress his pelts, to sell his Merchandise for a specified length of time; the bargain is faithfully carried out on both sides.

Montreal in September. It's raining. An ancient elevator clanks its way to somewhere near the top of the building. I step out into a dark hallway and wait for Nadia. This is her studio. She takes me into a space shared with others and into the small space she calls her own. A canoe takes up much of that space. Suspended from the ceiling it is for me yet another strange encounter in a strange world. Half aluminium half birch-bark, Nadia comments on the strange affect the different materials produce the distortion of proportion. [fig. 1] The wooden half is dominant. Crafted from traditional material (birch bark, cedar, ash, spruce root and gum), the knowledge and skill of centuries forms the stern, in effect ensuring the canoe travels on course in recognition of 'where we have come from'. The gleaming aluminium of modernity forms the bow, from which position the paddler steers the canoe out of immediate danger. Tradition and modernity work together to direct and ensure safe passage. The piece is titled 'History in Two Parts'. Seamed at the centre, the two halves create a whole whose viability is utterly dependent on the proof of that join. [fig. 2] The canoe is symbolic of Nadia Myre's hybrid status and the history of relationship between aboriginal and settler nations in Canada: it is an artistic representation of the attempt to hold dissimilar halves in viable union. Each half is distinct and each half is beautiful. One half is modern and one half traditional; but the illusion of disproportion should not be forgotten for it too is symbolic.