in january of 2025 i defended my master's thesis as part of an MA in Community Psychology.
this research, titled Art/Place Making in a Settler Colonial Context: A Critical Place Inquiry on the Haldimand Tract/Kitchener-Waterloo From a White Settler Perspective can be found:
here.
abstract
Although critical place scholars implicate artists in settler colonial processes of placemaking, there is little information on how white settler artists (WSAs) might use their creative practice to support practices of accountability and solidarity with Indigenous resurgence. This research responds to this gap by investigating the creative practices of WSAs located on the Haldimand Tract/in Kitchener-Waterloo (KW), and how they might approach critical, contextual practices in their creative work.
A critical place inquiry was combined with ethnographic research principles and a transformative critical research paradigm. Six WSAs participated in mobile interviews, which took place in a location significant to them. To locate myself, I engaged in critical listening positionality after each interview, generating a soundscape, photos, and written reflections.
Through qualitative analysis, key findings emerged including: moving towards practices of accountability in creative practice as WSAs, moving towards practices of solidarity with Indigenous resurgence in creative practice as WSAs, and creative practice is relational: situating self, relationship with others, land, place, and systems of settler colonialism. Findings indicate that WSAs creative practice can support practices of accountability and solidarity with Indigenous resurgence, however methodological and practical movement building is needed.
excerpt from the introduction:
I was biking on the Iron Horse when I noticed the empty lot, where I organized my first show, calling it: Lot Show. Before the first set started, I welcomed everyone and shared a land acknowledgement, reminding everyone present that we are here on a portion of the Haldimand Tract, that artists have gathered here long before this was Kitchener, or this nation state was named Canada. I reminded everyone that it was/is the Haudenosaunee, Anishinaabeg, and Attawandaron Peoples who live on and tend to this land, along with many other Indigenous peoples from different nations and communities today.
As I played and sang my songs, the audience sat on blankets and lawn chairs, or directly on the pavement, surrounded by grasses, wildflowers, and trees growing through the concrete’s cracks. I reflected on the moment as I sang. It was so beautiful, the sun setting, the pink sky, people stopping off the path to listen to the unexpected live music. Amongst all the beauty and love my land acknowledgement felt empty.
What did it mean to be finding my place here? To gather a large group of people and share my songs on the land? These are some of the feelings and questions that became the seeds of this research.
sonic markers on the Haldimand Tract
this is an output from the methodologies and implementation of this research.
while walking through five public, outdoor spaces in kitchener-waterloo ontario, I interviewed local critical artists to gather their ideas and experiences on the topic.
once each interview was finished, I re-walked the interview route, engaging in xwélmexw (Stó:lō/Skwah) artist/curator/writer Dylan Robinson's critical listening positionality.
during this time, i walked, listened, took photos, and recorded my process on a field recording device, locating my own intersectional identity and being - socially and sonically - in place.
