Land Acknowledgement Shoes for Me - Toronto Sandals

My shoemaking methodology has changed to reflect what I’ve learned since making Land Acknowledgement shoes for my ancestors. The new protocols reflect my attempt to create a relationship with the land and to enact gratitude in exchange for collecting each material at each site. I visited sites with an historic Indigenous presence and then connected these sites to a current Indigenous event, action or activity happening in Toronto. Indigenous people have always been here and they continue to live, work and play in this city.

Elinor Whidden Sandals –

Materials:

Bathing suit, mattress, flagging tape, Canada 150 tote bag, garlic bread packaging, fishing float, driftwood, pepperoni packaging, Adidas soccer glove bag, yarrow plant garden marker, white tarp, erosion control fabric, black savannah oak leaf, fishing line & lure, brass buckles.

The Summer Collection: Sandals Leave You Vulnerable. Shoe design reflects my insecurity and self-doubt about how I stand on the land in my hometown, Toronto. 

Shoemaking methodology focuses on noticing the land, learning without screens or books, and enacting gratitude at each site.  Materials are scavenged using my Materials Exchange Ritual from sites chosen from the book Indigenous Toronto: Stories that Carry this Place.

 

Site:

Toronto, Tkarón:to, Mississauga of the Credit River Treaty Territory, Anishnaabek, Haudenosaunee, Wendat Territory, Attawandaron Territory, Dish with One Spoon Territory.

Date:

2020 – Ongoing

Use:

To spark dialogue about living on Indigenous Land.

To visit sites of contemporary Indigenous art, activism and events.

Click the image to visit the archive.

MATERIAL ARCHIVE & RESEARCH – ME IN TORONTO (The Sandal Fond):

FONDS: Materials; Historical Research; Treaty Research; Adventures Walking the Land; Attempts to Create a Relationship with the Land; Gratitude Protocols; Current Indigenous Activities & Events; Cobbling Footnotes, Settler Fails.

NOTE:  This archive is a massive online storage unit for my research.  The Archivist (me) is currently working on sorting through the pile of research, documentation and field notes.  Please have patience; decolonizing work in progress.

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