MANITOWANING—Leadership is central to the wellbeing and progress of a community and Debajehmujig Storytellers K.B. Reynolds Mastin Gallery located at the Debajehmujig Creation Centre in Manitowaning is currently hosting ‘Gimaawaadzi’ (Those destined to lead).
The exhibition consists of a massive sign listing the leadership of Wiikwemkoong Unceded Territory and series portraits of the chiefs who have led the community since its modern iteration. The outstanding collection of gimaa portraits were created by Wiikwemkoong artist Francine Pelletier.
“This exhibition has been in the works for a number of years,” said Debajehmujig General Manager Lynda Trudeau, who noted Debajehmujig has worked in collaboration with Wiikwemkoong to gather the information that underlies the exhibition. Although the exhibition had a soft open in October, there was still one portrait outstanding—that of Gimaa Tim Ominika. “We wanted to wait until we had all of the portraits finished,” said Ms. Trudeau.
The exhibition documents the challenges the community has faced over the years and the advancements that have occurred.
Although the exhibit owes a great debt to the administration of Wiikwemkoong, “mostly this exhibition is a demonstration of the skills of fellow community member Francine Pelletier and the people who accepted their destiny to lead this great nation,” said Ms. Trudeau.
“I just wanted to thank everybody for coming out to see this exhibition,” said Ms. Pelletier. “I learned a lot about my own community through this project.”
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Current Wiikwemkoong Gimaa Tim Ominika was on hand for the launch of the exhibition, his being the last portrait to be completed. Also attending the opening reception were a number of former chiefs, including Eugene Manitowabi.
Historian Stephen George worked closely with the project to assist with the rich Anishinaabe traditions and with the names that may no longer be familiar.
“Most of the chiefs I knew by name already,” Mr. George said. “The first name on that list struck me as funny. His name translated as roughly, ‘somebody who stands around and gets in the way.’” He noted that the descendants of that family have shortened the name to Ominika. “I wouldn’t be surprised if our current gimaa is the descendant himself.” That observation elicited plenty of laughter from the audience.
Mr. George has a large number of old photographs of councils and he is seeking more photographs of previous councils.
The entire opening reception can be found online at YouTube by searching for ‘Gimaawaadzi.’
‘Gimaawaadzi’ (Those destined to lead) runs at the Creation Centre in Manitowaning until the end of March.
