Study for Section 69 of the Indian Act, 2021

Kent Monkman (Cree member of Fisher River Cree Nation in Treaty 5 Territory (Manitoba)),Study for Section 69 of the Indian Act, 2021.

Acrylic on canvas, 24 x 18 in.

<p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin-bottom:10px;font-family:'Open Sans', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In&nbsp;<span style="box-sizing:border-box;font-style:italic;">Section 69 of the Indian Act</span>, Miss Chief has a heated exchange with a member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, a square-jawed, rock-solid symbol of the Canadian settler state.&nbsp;</p><p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin-bottom:10px;font-family:'Open Sans', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Since the establishment of this police force by John A. Macdonald in the 1870s, Mounties have strong-armed Indigenous people into unbalanced treaty agreements and forced them onto reservations and into jails.&nbsp;</p><p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin-bottom:10px;font-family:'Open Sans', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here, nestled into the long grass and wild flowers of Turtle Island, Miss Chief uses a firm grip to take power &ndash; and land &ndash; back into her own hands. Decolonization may be a tough concept for settlers to swallow, but all must learn the nature of true reciprocation, and what it really means to give back.</p>