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Interventions
in Traditional Territories: "Cistemaw Iyiniw Ohci," A
Performance by Cheryl L'Hirondelle
by Candice Hopkins
Printer-friendly version
 In
the summer of 2001 on the Makwa Sahgaiehcan Indian Reserve in the
northern reaches of Saskatchewan, a woman was running, reenacting
running done two generations earlier by Cistemaw iyiniw, a Cree
man who delivered tobacco from community to community to ask for
their attendance and support at ceremonies. He was part of the Moccasin
Telegraph: a runner, a traveler, and a messenger. Cistemaw iyiniw
(whose name is Cree for tobacco being) walked or ran even when horses
were available to him. People were amazed at the distances he could
cover and how he traversed them so quickly. Cistemaw iyiniw's grandson,
Harry Blackbird, recalls that "[h]e could
cross all the rivers in the region without seeming to get wet."
Wearing a racing jersey with a number (distinguishing
her as a member of a formal event), Cheryl L'Hirondelle ran from
one end of the reserve to the other (approximately twenty-fivekilometers)
on the main road through the community. In most places,
her action went by unnoticed, but on the reserve—as in most
small communities—everyone knows what everyone else is doing.
During L'Hirondelle's performance, and inspired by her action, some
women in the community began a Moccasin Telegraph of their own by
phoning other people on the reserve and notifying them about the
event.
Aware of what normally constitutes the art audience,
certainly not the people from Makwa Sahgaiehcan, L'Hirondelle's
goal was to involve another kind of viewer. Engaging this other
audience, as it is with all art that seeks to resonate with a particular
community, required her to negotiate a new set of rules and develop
a different set of cultural strategies. In some pre-performance
musings she remarked that "the activity has to somehow engage
people instead of alienate them…it has to occur where people
live and where performance has survived for many years—in
people's camps, homes and at the kitchen table." Her task of
"engag[ing] people instead of alienat[ing] them" was determined
from the outset. Her strategy was to stage the performance in the
local, engaging the community by performing a part of their history.
Cistemaw iyiniw's story was handed down to L'Hirondelle
in typical Native tradition, orally. In Native culture, stories
are not simply stories. They are told and retold so that they resonate
in the present, not as myths and legends, but as a vital part of
history. They teach critical lessons and cultural values, like bravery
and the necessity of communication. By mimicking Cistemaw iyiniw's
running, L'Hirondelle's performance highlighted the distinctions
and pointed to the ambiguities of what constitutes public, community,
and audience. The Elder originally telling the story has a captive
audience: they are members of the given community. However, in L'Hirondelle's
performance the audience is not so easily located. In some cases
the term itself is challenged (when does a passer-by become part
of an audience?), its definition moves out of focus and its location
shifts.
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Audience is commonly defined as the assembled
spectators or listeners at an event. In L'Hirondelle's action the
viewers were not formally assembled; the performance was happenstance
and informal. This questions the distinction between audience and
public. Are the people in the community an audience simply because
they witness the event? Or, do they have to somehow
engage with the action to gain meaning from its occurrence? Can
one be called an audience if they refuse to be involved and ultimately
disregard the action? Possibly the public are those who choose (for
whatever reason) not to be involved with the work. The audience
could then be further distinguished as those who gain meaning from
the event.
As L'Hirondelle ran through the community of Makwa
Sahgaiehcan, a film crew captured her performance and the performances
of three other people, Louise Halfe, Cheli Nighttraveller, and Joseph
Naytowhow, who, on consultation with the artist, also interacted
with the community. Each performer was given a disposable camera,
a list of Cree syllabics, and chalk. They were encouraged to write
messages in syllabics wherever they saw fit. The performers were
also encouraged to ask the people they visited if they would still
be willing to honor the age-old tradition of never turning a stranger
from your door but, rather, inviting that person in and giving them
food and drink. This is based on the Elders' belief that you never
know how far someone has traveled. If the person still abided by
this tradition, "water" was inscribed in syllabics on
the outside of the house. During her run, Cheryl stopped at two
houses where she saw syllabics denoting "water" and visited
with the people inside.
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