Call 92: Building respectful relationships with First Nation’s Arts
A Truth and Reconciliation Sharing Circle honouring the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation with presenters Peggy Janicki and Gracie Kelly
Facilitated by Kaity McLaughlin�Reichert and Associates
September 29, 2025
Presenters
Gracie Kelly (she/ her)
Gracie Kelly’s family roots are with the Th’ewali (Soowahlie First Nations) Ts’elxwéyeqw Tribe. She is a Cultural Safety and Humility facilitator, an educator, enjoys sharing traditional teachings and is an advocate of supporting Indigenous communities. Gracie currently works as the Indigenous Specific Anti-Racism and Cultural Safety Liaison at Doctors of BC, a role which aims to proactively address issues of Indigenous-specific racism in how physicians deliver care, strengthen the provision of culturally safe care, and improve the care experiences of First Nations, Métis, and Inuit peoples.
Peggy Janicki (she/ her)
Peggy Janicki - is a Dakelh artist, illustrator, facilitator, author (Spring 2023), and Teacher (UBC NITEP B.Ed. 2001/M.Ed. Indigenous Knowledges/Indigenous Pedagogies 2014). Peggy has worked as a classroom Teacher, District Teacher, Indigenous Mentor Teacher, union leader, and adjunct Professor.
Founded in 2007, the Reichert and Associates team has supported over 300 evaluation and research projects. R&A brings together evaluators and researchers from different backgrounds and experiences who are committed to helping organizations make informed decisions and meet their community’s needs. We strive to employ culturally safe and equitable practices while recognizing and accounting for the social and cultural power imbalances that lead to marginalization.
Reichert & Associates (R&A)
Full-service research and evaluation firm based in Vancouver, BC
Territory Acknowledgement
Thewali, Soowahlie First Nations
Sharing traditional teachings
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Cedar tray
Cedar hats
‘It’s Not Just a Rock’
Call 92:
Building respectful relationships with First Nation’s Arts
Peggy Janicki
Moderator Kaity McLaughlin (she/her)
Hosting presenter Gracie Kelly (she/her)
Guest presenter Peggy Janicki (she/her)
September 29, 2025
Land Acknowledgement
Peggy’s Land Acknowledgement: I recognize I am on traditional, ancestral, unceded Sqewlets, Leqamel, Sema:th, Matheqwi, and Kwantlen territories and am committed to seeing their land safely returned to them or compensated for.
Introductions
Fisher
Weaver
Author
Teacher
Union Leader
Canoe Puller
(5 Star & LJCC)
ABOUT CITATION AND ACCESSIBILITY
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Peggy Janicki
This work is shared under the following permission and is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. You are free to share and adapt under the following terms: You must give appropriate credit, not use for commercial purposes, and if you transform the material, you must distribute your contribution under the same license as the original. This document contains citations throughout, ensuring proper acknowledgment of sources. Third-party information has been cited and, where applicable, shared with permission. Users are encouraged to review third-party permissions if modifying the original license terms.
General document accessibility:
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Link to website
Link to website article
Link to website
ABOUT CONTENT
Peggy Janicki
If at any point you feel overwhelmed, or otherwise unable or uninterested in engaging, feel free to leave the room with a friend or by yourself. Taking time out is an important coping strategy. Feel free to use the breakout spaces, common spaces, and outside.
You know yourself and your needs best. It is okay to take time and space to meet those needs, and to be supported in doing so.
Content Warning/Trigger Warning
Page found on Peggy’s website
(Screenshot from document “Sharing Norms and Content)
INNER CEDAR BARK ROSE
What does this cedar bark rose represent: art, craft, or both? Let’s chat about your first response.
Art or Craft?
Please share
in chat
Photo credit: Peggy Janicki
Cedar Roses by BC Teacher: Rick Joe
4
ART VS. CRAFT
POWER & DEFINITIONS
Many Indigenous authors and artists discuss how the Western “art vs. craft” discussion is a colonial framework that diminsihes Indigenous creations by classifying them as “craft” rather than “art”, ignoring their deep significance. Carmen Robertson argues that these Eurocentric categories suppress Indigenous work and disconnect it from its rich traditions (Tennant, 2019) Instead of art and craft, they propose concepts like Relational Making, emphasizing the spiritual and community-based knowledge embedded in the the creation process (Adams, 2024).
5
6
1
2
3
Colonial Roots
Dismisses Indigenous knowledge
Hierarchical
Cultural Pride & Disrespectful
Loss of Authority
Sovereignty
RESPECT
APPROPRIATION
QR Code leads to PDF download: “Think Before You Appropriate,” a 23-page document.
*Content Warning:** Page 16 includes the term “Squaw Fashion.”
SFU’s “Think Before You Appropriate”
screen capture from website:
(Intellectual Property Issues in Cultural Heritage, 2016)
SFU, Simon Fraser University, has an amazing website highlighting the Intellectual Property Issues in Cultural Heritage (IPinCH) project
RESPECT
APPROPRIATION
QR Code leads to PDF download: “Think Before You Appropriate,” a 23-page document.
*Content Warning:** Page 16 includes the term “Squaw Fashion.”
A.I. & the violence of erasure
screen capture from website: Infographic “Indigenous Knowledge and A.I.”
AI systems can misrepresent or distort Indigenous families, cultures, practices, and lands because the training data is inaccurate.
STÓ:LŌ
HERITAGE POLICY
Some First Nations have policy
The key case study that comes to mind is the “Journey Home” project, which involved the repatriation and analysis of Stó:lō ancestral remains. Is highlights the community’s efforts to manage their heritage, establish permitting processes, and collaboration with institutions (Schaepe, D. M., Rowley, S. , Stó:lō Xyolhmet S’olketawtxw Sq’éq’ip Committee, Weson, D., & Richards, M. , 2015).
It is meant to be a living document, that evolves and adapts over time in response to changing needs and contexts.
Case Study of a Nation’s Policy
How it is implemented
“Approved by the Stó:lō Nation Lalems ye Stó:lō Si:ya:m (LYSS), May 5, 2003
Community
STÓ:LŌ
XA:XA
Sacred practices, belongings, and photography
This online digital website is a wonderful example of knowledge labels that a First Nation agreed upon. For example,
The policy outlines restriction on photographinbg sacred items and the the necessity of obtaining consent from families. This is broadly applicable to other ancestral belongings and images within Stó:lō culture.
This policy and others like it have the future and past generations in mind. For example, in Stó:lō territory this is called Tómiyeqw and means Generations.
Generations in mind
(Screenshot from Sqew’lets Digital Website)
STORIES & ART
CAN SHAPE THE LEGAL LANDSCAPE
SFU Doctorate Dissertation by Dr. Starleigh Grass
Stories & Art have great power
The SOGI 123 Salish Weaving Story
But what actually is not fair, is the expectation that a dominant culture can just take and enjoy and profit from the beauty and art and creation of an oppressed culture, without taking on any of the pain and oppression people of that culture had to survive while creating it.
Oluo, 2018, p. 151
POWER, PRIVILEGE, & RACE
OLUO’S BOOK, “SO YOU WANT TO TALK ABOUT RACE”
A GOOD REMINDER ABOUT THE PROBLEMS OF APPROPRIATION BY OLUO
STORY/ART
AS SACRED RESPONSIBILITIES
"To witness, remember and recount is a sacred responsibility within the practice of imparting Indigenous stories. ... because [stories] are alive and the voices and knowledge of our ancestors is embodied within them (Campbell, 2022, p. 167).
STORIES AS SACRED RESPONSIBILITY
CONTRACTS &
OWNERSHIP
A contract is not just a legal safeguard. It’s an acto of respect, reciprocity and responsibility
In short
Contracts to clarify copyright, ownership, rights, and permissions. It is essential for ethical art partnerships
ART AND ARTIST
ATTRIBUTION
It’s important
2. Cultural Integrity: It ensures the are is not separated from its culturla context or misrepresented.
3. Combats Appropriation: It makes it clear the work is not generic “Native design” but by a specific person, family, or Nation.
4. Profession & Legal Protection: It discourages plagiarism and unauthorized reproduction
5. Educational Value: When people know who created the work, they can connect to the story and/or Nation.
6. Legacy & Continuity: It ensures the artists’ works are remembered and valued in the long term
STOLEN
IMAGES
image retrieved from Canva images search “Indigenous Person”
Stock Footage Risks
Who are they? and what are their names? and where are they from? who took this picture?
QUESTION LIST
MISSION PUBLIC SCHOOLS CASE STUDY
A new project curating the belongings the Mission Public School District owns in its schools and sites was beginning to question where the art and belongings came from.
It was a project to list various information digitally, like care instructions, original artists, who helped out, what year was it made, etc.
Many older pieces of art do not have an info card like seen at an art gallery.
5 R’S OF
INDIGENOUS RESEARCH
RESPECT
RESPONSIBLITY
ACTIONS ALIGN WITH
RECIPROCITY
RELEVANCE
RESPONSIBILITY
RELATIONAL
Kw’as Hó:y
Thank
You
& Reflections
References
Adams, K. C. (2024, February 16). Relational Maker: An artist project. BlackFlash, 40(3). Retrieved August 31, 2025, from https://blackflash.ca/40.3/relational-maker-an-artist-project/ (link to online article)
Adams, K.C. (2024, November). My journey to Relational Making. Winnipeg Arts Council. Retrieved from https://winnipegarts.ca/voices/my-journey-to-relational-making?utm_source=chatgpt.com (link to online article)
Intellectual Property Issues in Cultural Heritage. (2016, January 12). Think before you appropriate: A guide for creators and designers. Simon Fraser University. https://www.sfu.ca/ipinch/resources/teaching-resources/think-before-you-appropriate/ (link to website)
Kovach, M. (2009). Indigenous methodologies: Characteristics, conversations, and contexts. University of Toronto Press.
McBride, P. (2013). Still Images, Transitioning Practices among the Stó:lō: Post-contact mortuary images and practices in a changing environment. University of Victoria. Retrieved from https://www.srrmcentre.com/pdf/Library/FS13_03%20McBride.pdf (32 page PDF download)
Campbell, N. (2022). Indigenous storytelling and literary practices (Doctoral dissertation Univeristy of British Columbia). UBC cIRcle. https://doi.org/10.14288/1.0422505
(Schaepe, D. M., Rowley, S. , Stó:lō Xyolhmet S’olketawtxw Sq’éq’ip Committee, Weson, D., & Richards, M. (2015, July). The journey home Guiding intangible knowledge production in the analysis of ancestral remains. Laboratory of Archaeology, University of British Columbia; Stó:lō Research & Resource Management Centre, Stó:lō Nation; Intellectual Property Issues in Cultural Heritage (IPinCH). Retrieved from https://www.sfu.ca/ipinch/sites/default/files/resources/reports/the_journey_home_ver2_may2016.pdf (43-page PDF download)
Tennant, Z. (2019, November 15). ‘Colonialism has always thrived in Canada’s press,’ says researcher. CBC [news article]. Retrieved from https://www.cbc.ca/radio/unreserved/challenging-media-stereotypes-of-indigenous-people-1.5358798/colonialism-has-always-thrived-in-canada-s-press-says-researcher-1.5360702 (link to online article)
CBC. (2023, September 12). Project Naming - Treaty 9 [News article] CBC News Retrieved from https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sudbury/project-naming-treaty-9-1.7055796. link to online article
Dhopade, P. (2019, October 19). ‘That’s My Auntie’: A New Book Reframes Photos from Indigenous Communities [Interview/feature]. Macleans. Retrieved from https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sudburhttps://macleans.ca/culture/blanket-toss-midnight-sun-paul-seesequasis//project-naming-treaty-9-1.7055796. link to online article
Reference (continued)