How Brittney Bear Hat let go of stereotypes to find a deeper artistic connection to her culture

Growing up off-reserve in Calgary, Brittney Bear Hat didn't feel she had very many traditional Indigenous experiences — so when she first started trying to make work that spoke to her identity, she says it was largely based on assumptions about what Indigenous art was. But when she let go of the stereotypes she felt confined by, she was able to find a deeper connection to her culture and create more naturally.

Her new work at Calgary's New Central Library narrates a memory of learning to swim from her dad. It's a nice memory, but thinking back on it as an adult made her realize that the activity maybe meant more to her dad than she'd known. "It was like teaching us a skill — something that was passed down to him from his either father or grandfather," she says.

Watch the video:

Brittney Bear Hat's Aiitskaitsiiwa/She is Reminiscing

6 years ago

Duration 3:43

Brittney Bear Hat makes art telling stories of learning to swim, Treaty 7 and the connection between the present and the past. Filmmakers: Laura O'Grady, Braden Dereniwski and Chris Krieger.

This sort of recognition is an important part of Bear Hat's work, which looks at Indigenous experience and the meaning of the land on which Calgary stands, from its road names to its relationship with Treaty 7. Treaty 7 was the agreement signed in 1877 by the government and five First Nations in Alberta that regulated reserves, annual payments from the Crown and hunting and trapping rights, while it slowly divested Indigenous people of their land.

What's the connection between Treaty 7 and learning to swim as a child? Bear Hat explains: "I just wanted to focus on that connection between what my father was passing down to me and what it means to be on this land."

In this video made by Laura O'Grady, Braden Dereniwski and Chris Krieger, Bear Hat explains why it's meant so much for her to make work about stories from her family and her community, and she shows you the new work she's created for the New Central Library.

See Brittney Bear Hat's Aiitskaitsiiwa/She is Reminiscing at Calgary's New Central Library, where the work has become part of the collection along with five other Indigenous artists responding to Treaty 7.

Stream CBC Arts: Exhibitionists or catch it on CBC Television Friday nights at 11:30pm (12am NT) and Sundays at 3:30pm (4pm NT). Watch more videos here.