Snapshot: Centering Indigenous Perspectives in Public Space

Photo by Rene Johnston / Toronto Star

As we work towards building a holistic dialogue about safety in public space, we must first understand and unpack our conventional relationship to shared land and place. A key component of this recognizes that our most valued public spaces across Turtle Island (also known as North America) are located on land connected to many distinct Indigenous peoples, whose presence across the continent date back millennia. Following the arrival of Europeans in the Americas, this land has been attached to deep and complex histories of colonial dispossession, which to this day, determine either explicitly or implicitly who has access to a given space and how they are expected or permitted to use it. This includes The Bentway site (and organization) itself, and the Fort York National Historic Site on which it operates.

With this in mind, the efforts of public space practitioners to design, program, or otherwise reimagine public space must recognize how systems of oppression have precluded the recognition of Indigenous people, ways of life, rights and history. For non-Indigenous folks who work in the public space field, we must proactively assume responsibility to unlearn conventional approaches and pursue better ways of centering Indigenous peoples in our public spaces. But how do we begin to unpack these complex histories and re-examine our typical approaches and practices?

This week’s Snapshot will highlight 3 areas of focus that will serve as a starting point for our collective (un)learning:

1. Indigenous worldviews can meaningfully inform how we shape our spaces through architecture and design.

• Indigenous worldviews inform unique approaches to knowledge, notions of collective responsibility, and relationships to land. In this week’s Safe in Public Space feature article Decolonizing Design: The Case for Universal Inclusivity, architect Matthew Hickey (Mohawk, Six Nations First Nation) discusses how Indigenous ways of knowing and being can inform approaches to design and architecture.

• There is no single framework guiding Indigenous architecture & design; the methodologies and approaches are as diverse as the many distinct Indigenous cultures that exist across Canada and beyond. Check out Indigenous Perspectives on the Notion of Architecture (10 min read) to learn more about this range of practices, and the contributions of Indigenous architecture to the field.

• You may be shocked to learn that there are less than 20 Indigenous architects (under 1% of all licensed architects) practicing across Canada today. In 2018, many of these architects teamed up to produce UNCEDED: Voices of the Land, which was Canada’s official entry to the 16th International Architecture Exhibition at the Venice Bienniale. Learn more about the exhibition and the architects behind it here (8 min read).

2. Public spaces should encourage Indigenous led place-keeping and land stewardship.

• In what is now known as Toronto’s High Park, Taiaiako’n Historical Preservation Society is working to strengthen Indigenous leadership in the restoration and protection of sacred lands. Initiatives like The Re-Sistering Garden have also been a demonstration of Indigenous place-keeping and has served as an educational tool for non-Indigenous park users about the importance of the land to Indigenous communities.

• Initiatives at the intersection of activism and public art also present opportunities for Indigenous place-keeping in public space. Red Embers in downtown Toronto’s Allan Gardens, is a series of 13 large wooden gates sited along the park’s paths, each featuring a red banner designed and decorated by local Indigenous women.

Photo by Smoke Architecture

3. Efforts to decolonize public spaces must encompass and critically engage the Land Back movement.

• Non-Indigenous peoples must actively work towards reimagining equitable systems and institutions through decolonization. Importantly, this requires non-Indigenous peoples to understand Indigenous calls for liberation.

• For many, the Land Back Movement is about more than just land reclamation. It intersects with Indigenous calls for self-determination and cultural resurgence. What is Land Back? We recommend these resources to learn more:

  • LAND BACK! What Do We Mean? (4 min read) by Ronald Gamblin, 4R’s Youth Movement

  • Red Nation Podcast (1 hr, 3 min, audio) - Land Back w/ Nickita Longman, Emily Riddle & Lindsay Nixon