Meet trail-blazing twins at the cutting edge of Indigenous storytelling
Tristan and Chris Grant are telling their stories through music, art and social media
Twin brothers from Pabineau First Nation are each forging paths as contemporary storytellers and are attracting growing followings as media personalities in the Indigenous community and beyond.
Tristan Grant is a successful hip-hop artist known as Wolf Castle and a music columnist for CBC Radio in New Brunswick, and is soon to be temporary host of the CBC national radio program Reclaimed, which features Indigenous music.
His twin brother, Chris, is a visual artist and animator who creates videos about his thoughts and experiences with schizoaffective disorder for a TikTok audience now numbering about 1.5 million.
"He seems to just get it," said Tristan. "He knows the internet machine."
The Grant twins are part of a family with a strong artistic tradition.
Their grandfather was renowned Mi'kmaw storyteller Gilbert Sewell. Their uncle is singer Raymond Sewell. Their mom is animator Phyllis Grant and their sister, Felicia Mae Galbraith, is also a visual artist.
Tristan and Chris grew up drawing, watching television and movies and playing video games "nonstop."
They used their mom's gear to make stop-motion animation with clay and Lego blocks and posted videos on Youtube.
One that Chris made has had 1.8 million views, said Tristan.
His own music has plenty of fans, too. A recent collaboration with Halifax-based indie-folk artist Braden Lam, called Silence, was nominated for song of the year at this year's East Coast Music Awards.
Tristan is "super excited" to be getting a chance to share music on a national stage from Fredericton this summer and to curate the Reclaimed playlist.
'Everybody is doing their part'
Another of his latest projects has been an interview series for CBC Radio in Atlantic Canada called This is the Future.
Tristan said it came about because he wanted to highlight some of the work being done by the many inspiring young Indigenous people he knew.
"Everybody is doing their part to make a better future for the Indigenous community here," he said.
Interviews Tristan conducted with young Indigenous entrepreneurs, language keepers, educators, athletes, dancers and artists were aired Wednesday — National Indigenous Peoples Day — on a special province-wide edition of Information Morning Fredericton, and are being shared with CBC Radio programs across Atlantic Canada.
Tristan said he could have easily featured dozens more outstanding young Indigenous people in the region.
A 'tumultuous' time
His brother Chris would certainly fit that bill.
Chris had a "tumultuous" time several years ago, dealing with the onset of schizoaffective disorder, but has overcome addiction and homelessness and established stability for himself, while also being an extremely productive artist.
His artist name, as well as his social media handle, is xoradmagical.
He's done one film for the National Film Board of Canada and is working on another.
He's prolific on TikTok, where he describes his posts as "a personal virtual diary that everybody is allowed to look at."
Chris was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder in 2017 at the age of 20. It's a mental health condition that includes hallucinations or delusions and mood disorder symptoms such as depression or mania.
"It's like I was standing somewhere one day and a dragon came by and snatched me, and I had to work with the dragon and befriend it."
He and Tristan were living together in a little apartment going to university when it started.
A scramble of noises
His first auditory hallucinations were like whispers coming from the vents, he said. It was a scramble of noises he couldn't decipher --- like feelings mixed with thoughts that weren't his own.
"A huge misconception about voices is that they're all evil and violent," he said.
Sometimes they're neutral or even comforting, he said.
Then time seemed to speed up or slow down for him.
"I felt a lot like the song Space Oddity by David Bowie," said Chris, which describes being in a spaceship far from Earth.
Instead of being afraid of it and running away from it and not facing what I have to deal with, I draw it.- Chris Grant
The main optical hallucination he deals with is seeing faces coming out of things.
"I'll look at the floor … and suddenly there's a face popping out of it," accompanied by "chatter."
When it began it was very disturbing, said Chris. He constantly felt irritated and relations with his family were difficult. Making art helps him cope.
"I have to continue drawing them and if I draw them, I'm honouring them in a way. Instead of being afraid of it and running away from it and not facing what I have to deal with, I draw it."
Chris has been "shocked" by the large amount of interest in his videos.
It's been wonderful to see him find an audience, said Tristan, who thinks his brother is changing the way people see schizophrenia.
Chris hopes that's true. He envisions his future with a lot of happiness and self-compassion, but not in a selfish way.
Tristan agrees.
"If you're taking care of yourself and you understand yourself, then you can make good and positive decisions towards your future and also the future of your family and your community that you're a part of."
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