Kelly Greene
Changing Currency: Prototype Kanata 151 $10 Bill, 2018 / Does Not Have Supernatural Power, 1994
Kelly Greene, Changing Currency: Prototype Kanata 151 $10 Bill, 2018
This piece was created in response to the commemorative ten dollar bills that circulated during Canada's 150th anniversary, depicting people considered important in the formation of Canada. So I thought a more appropriate commemorative ten dollar bill could be circulated for Canada's 151st anniversary, the primary background being one of many photos taken of the masses of children sent to residential schools, with J.A. Macdonald, Canada's first Prime Minister, behind bars, those of the praying child in the row of the others, with one of his quotes included beneath the bars: Macdonald vowed that Canada's goal was "to do away with a tribal system and assimilate the Indian people in all respects with the inhabitants of the Dominion, as speedily as they are fit to change."
And I wanted to identify the boy who was the poster child the Canadian government and church circulated as an example of the before and after attributes children had upon attending those schools. His name was Thomas Moore Keesick and he was eight-years old when he was enrolled in the Regina Indian Industrial School on August 26, 1891 along with his brother Samuel and his sister Julia. He was the 22nd student registered in the school, which operated from 1891 to 1910 and he became known as No. 22.
Thomas was from the Muscowpetung Saulteaux First Nation, located about 45 minutes northeast of Regina and was the youngest child of Paul Desjarlais Sr. and Hannah Moore Keesick. Four years after enrolling, Moore was sent home ill with consumption, better known now as tuberculosis. He died from being at a residential school (records show 36 students died at the Regina Indian Industrial School, but the number is perhaps more). Propaganda like these before/after images of Indigenous children were used by the Department of Indian Affairs to justify the residential school system. Few knew that both the before and after photos were faked images with no connection to the Cree boy's real life. Thomas Moore's "before" clothing includes women's traditional attire, which a male would never wear.
And I wanted to identify the boy who was the poster child the Canadian government and church circulated as an example of the before and after attributes children had upon attending those schools. His name was Thomas Moore Keesick and he was eight-years old when he was enrolled in the Regina Indian Industrial School on August 26, 1891 along with his brother Samuel and his sister Julia. He was the 22nd student registered in the school, which operated from 1891 to 1910 and he became known as No. 22.
Thomas was from the Muscowpetung Saulteaux First Nation, located about 45 minutes northeast of Regina and was the youngest child of Paul Desjarlais Sr. and Hannah Moore Keesick. Four years after enrolling, Moore was sent home ill with consumption, better known now as tuberculosis. He died from being at a residential school (records show 36 students died at the Regina Indian Industrial School, but the number is perhaps more). Propaganda like these before/after images of Indigenous children were used by the Department of Indian Affairs to justify the residential school system. Few knew that both the before and after photos were faked images with no connection to the Cree boy's real life. Thomas Moore's "before" clothing includes women's traditional attire, which a male would never wear.
Kelly Greene, Does Not Have... side table with criminal code, 1994
|
Kelly Greene, Does Not Have... money on the floor, 1994
|
Whenever we visited a relative’s home during a three year span, I saw the aerosol can in her bathroom. I asked to take the product home with me and reveal my visually literal interpretation. I found the imagery and text on the spray can, not to mention its content’s smell, offensive. I wanted to show the ridiculous nature of this marketing tactic, which uses Indianness to sell such a product so far removed from Native culture. I turned the joke around and copied money on brightly-colored paper to litter within my small room installation. I blessed this house with money. After all, that’s what the product says it does, in addition to containing “Indian fruit oil.” What is Indian fruit? I chose plastic fruit as representation since I felt the whole concept is fake, as too was so obviously the fake copied money. But the paper bills were considered counterfeit. It was considered a crime. It’s in the criminal code. The police said so and took the fake money away. But when will the law intercede as Indigenous culture is appropriated in any way for the sake of monetary gain for others?
I redid this piece according to criminal code guidelines in order to acceptably copy the currency so the dialogue might continue.
I redid this piece according to criminal code guidelines in order to acceptably copy the currency so the dialogue might continue.
Does Not Have... chair, stool and lamp on side table, 1994
|
Does Not Have... toy headdress and spray can, 1994
|
|
|
|
|
Kelly Greene, hand-drawn drafts of counterfeit bills
Kelly Greene is a multi-disciplinary artist and a Kanyen’kehà:ka (Mohawk) member of Six Nations of the Grand River Territory as well as of settler ancestry. She is a mother, gardener, environmentalist, writer, and language learner. Her work includes painting, sculpture, installation, and photography/photo montage. Greene has lived in London, Ontario since 1989 and obtained a BFA from the University of Western Ontario after beginning her visual art studies at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. She has exhibited in Canada and the United States for over thirty years. In 2021, Kelly was honoured to be selected as the inaugural Indigenous Artist-in-Residence at Western University.
