Land Acknowledgement Shoes for Robert Colquhoun

These Land Acknowledgement Shoes are made using materials scavenged from the land in Charlottenburg, Ontario where my great-great-great-great grandfather, Robert Colquhoun first set foot when he arrived in Canada.

Robert Colquhoun Brogues –

Materials:

Tim Horton’s cup, rabbit pelt, construction work glove, Miracle Gro plastic bag, current transformer test switch, green tarpaulin, beech twig, vinyl Cooper golf bag, landscape fabric, barbed wire fencing, truck tire, turkey feather, brass wire snare, leather, shoelaces.

The shoe design is based on a Brogue (a gentleman’s walking shoe) with a Ghillie shoelace to reflect Robert’s Scottish roots.  I imagine Robert walked many miles collecting rent on the Nutfield Tract Indian Reservation for the St. Regis Mohawks in his role as Indian Agent.

Site:

Akwesasne Territory, Tsienatsiarorokta, Kaniatarowanenneh, Mohawk Valley.

Date:

2019 – Ongoing

Use:

I am currently using these shoes to have conversations with friends, family and other Settlers about living on Indigenous land.  When I meet with people I put on these shoes and begin telling The Story of the Humble Turkey

Click the image to visit the archive.

MATERIAL ARCHIVE & RESEARCH – COLQUHOUN:

FONDS: Materials; Historical Research; Genealogical Findings; Adventures Walking the Land; Attempts to Connect with Indigenous Experts; Cobbling Footnotes, Settler Fails.

NOTE:  This archive is a massive online storage unit for my research.  This sprawling archive reflects both my attempt to learn my own history and my inability to corral this research into a useful a tool of decolonization: my failure (to date) to “do something about it.