18 May - 1 Jul, '24
Arnolda Dufour Bowes is a spirited Metis woman from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, with family ties to Sakitawak (Ile a la Crosse) and the George Gordon First Nation and Punnichy area. Her first book, 20.12m: A Life Lived as a Road Allowance Metis, is a compelling coming-of-age collection of stories based on the marginalized Road Allowance Metis. It received the Danuta Gleed Literary Award from the Writers Union of Canada in 2022 and won Best Indigenous Writer for the High Plains Awards in 2022. It was also among SaskBooks’ best-selling titles of 2021 and won the Saskatchewan Book Award for Indigenous Publishing in 2022. Her most recent book, Maggie Lou – Firefox, has earned a Starred review by Kirkus Reviews in 2024, and she is busy completing book two of this series.
Currently, she is a Playwright Resident of the Gordon Tootoosis Nīkānīwin Theatre in Saskatoon, creating a play adaptation of “Apples & Traintracks” from the book 20.12m. She is also an emerging screenwriter with a feature project, “Truthwalkers,” developed through the Whistler Film Festival, Indigenous Filmmaker Fellowship.
Contact info:
In the Greg Yuel Gallery
This sensory art installment is a unique opportunity to delve into the history of the Road Allowance Metis and their mandatory resettlement to Green Lake Farming Rehabilitation programs by the Saskatchewan Government during the 1940s. This exhibition includes a recording of the story “Apples & Traintracks” from the book “20.12m” that plays in conjunction with a video reel, allowing participants to experience this small piece of Saskatchewan history with more connectedness. Arnolda reclaimed pieces of their father’s Road Allowance home, still standing in Punnichy, and recreated them into unique art pieces. Along with her compositions and poetry, attendees will have the privilege to enjoy original and beautiful artwork from the book 20.12m by artist and Arnolda’s sister, Andrea Haughian, and some recent pieces she has created specifically for this installment. Andrea is delighted for another opportunity to share their father’s experiences and is honoured to share a small piece of the history of the Road Allowance Metis through art.
