Québec's Aboriginal population is approaching 90,000. These are the men and women of This Is Our Story, re-examining their past, sharing their present, and dreaming their future.
The story I want to tell you is to fill in the blanks—it's not all just white space. The story takes place on the land and sea, and inside people. There's a point to it of course, a very simple point; it's not an idealistic story. The point is to arrive at the point of looking at who we are and accepting where we come from.
(The Great Tale, Naomi Fontaine, from the exhibition)
This production came out of a close collaboration with the eleven Aboriginal nations living in Québec: Anishinabeg* (Algonquin), Atikamekw Nehirowisiwok, Eeyou (Cree), Huron-Wendat, Innu, Inuit, Kanien'kehá:ka (Mohawk), Mi'gmaq, Naskapi, Waban-Aki (Abenaki), Wolastoqiyik (Maliseet).
To create This Is Our Story, Musée de la civilisation and La Boîte Rouge vif, an organization that specializes in the promotion of Aboriginal cultures, visited First Nations and Inuit communities and homes. Eighteen communities, often hundreds of kilometers away from each other, took part, and some 800 people spoke out.
This Is Our Story draws on a rich collection including contemporary Aboriginal art—more than 450 objects are on display to introduce today's Aboriginal cultures and how they view the world. What does it mean to be Aboriginal in the 21st century?