Native Immigrant (NI) is a collective that aims to bridge First Nations and immigrants by creating opportunities for exchange through collaborative activities ranging from art-making to educational conversation circles. Our definition of immigrants encompasses all those who are not First Nations, Metis or Inuit, including those of Settler ancestry, since “we are all immigrants with different arrival dates.” Inclusivity is fundamental to the creation of dialogue, a central objective of the collective. The first Native Immigrant event, in the winter of 2013, took shape just as a new chapter in Quebec politics was also unfolding—the Charter of Values, an attempt by the provincial government to make Quebecers “embrace” local values. The notion of “Quebecois de Souche” (original Quebecer) being promoted makes no sense: Quebec’s roots are French; the only “souche” are Native peoples, who, like Quebec’s immigrants, were being excluded from the discussion. Carolina Echeverría (artistic director and founder of NI) then translated the term, Native Immigrant, into French as “Immigrant de Souche,” a re-rooted immigrant, one who is mindful of this land, who wants to connect to it, with the intention of unifying people and putting a stop to discriminatory practices and policies that define some as “in,” leaving others on the margins, labeled as detractors and outsiders. In 2017, after six events, the NI collective emerged: a diverse group of individuals that believes culture should be something alive and organic. The main activity that grounds and connects each NI project is a co-created installation known as the “making of a dress.” Dresses are made, one at a time, and each dress revolves around a theme (immigration, peace, love, hope, memorializing a loved one, and so on): the public and invited guests are invited to donate a personal object of value to the dress, and to share stories with the dressmakers (members of NI). This often intimate occasion also becomes the occasion for collecting oral history, and donors’ stories are simultaneously recorded as the dress is being made. The object-attaching and the interview processes have become a core ritual with Native Immigrant, and is arguably the most important part of the activities we conduct. There are plans for 12 dresses in all, and a multi-lingual book that explores the evocative power of healing dialogue that can be achieved through this kind of co-creation. An interactive web-documentary is also underway to create public access to the dressmaking process. The simple act of making dresses together, and exchanging stories that revolve around a central theme, has spawned invaluable connections between peoples. For instance, two First Nations groups that did not know about each other and their similar struggles were united in mid-2016 when Mohawk war chief Ateronhiatakon Francis Boots sent a collective message from the Kanien’kehá:ka (Mohawk) people to the Williche people in the island of Chiloé, Chile. The exchange resulted in key contributions to The Dress of Our Hopes (2016), which includes objects from the Williche, brought to Canada by a Chilean member of Native Immigrant. Through a collection of communal ‘dresses’ Native Immigrant has created since 2013, what has resulted is the participation of hundreds of people, crossing borders from Japan to Canada to Chile—all while bridging immigrants to First Nations. Each dress is a meeting place, a connection, a common ground between each participant.
