Vigil- The Land Remembers

Vigil- The Land Remembers - Ongoing


As part of an ongoing performance series, 155 pounds of cement mixed with water from the local landscape to create a vigil, a memorialization space to grieve the ongoing epidemic of violence against MMIWG2+ and all Indigenous Peoples Turtle Island around the globe.

One hundred fifty-five pounds is a personal number, the amount of which my mother weighed upon her death.

Using the site to host interventions of giving remembrance, gratitude, and awareness to the public about the epidemic of Missing and Murdered Indigenous women in North America.

After having completed pouring the cement into the land, I invited the public to join me in placing red rose pedals onto the memorizing site. This participatory act was to create space to respect and pay homage to these women.

Montreal and Stewart Hall are located on unceded Indigenous lands. The Kanien'kehá:ka Nation is recognized as the custodians of the lands and waters on which this performance occurred. Tiohtià:ke/Montréal is historically a gathering place for many First Nations. Today, it is home to a diverse Indigenous and other peoples population. I respect the continued connections with the past, present and future in our ongoing relationships with Indigenous and other peoples within the Montreal community. I am thankful for the Traditional Knowledge Keepers and Elders, and I recognize the land, its gifts and lessons, and the territory I reside in.


Documention done in part by the photographer Vanessa Fortin and Erik Sirke