Christi Belcourt
Christi Marlene Belcourt (born September 24, 1966) is a Métis visual artist and author living and working in Canada. She is best known for her acrylic paintings which depict floral patterns inspired by Métis and First Nations historical beadwork art. Belcourt's work often focuses on questions around identity, culture, place and divisions within communities. Biography. Born in Scarborough, Ontario, Christi Belcourt is the daughter of national Métis rights activist Tony Belcourt and Judith Pierce-Martin (née Stretch). Her family's roots are connected to Manitou Saskhigan (also known as Lac Ste. Anne), Alberta. Her brother Shane Belcourt  is a writer, director, musician and cinematographer known for his feature film Tkaronto, which depicts the life of urban Métis and First Nations people. Her sister Suzanne Belcourt is a graphic designer and artist living and working in southern Ontario. In 1970, her father was elected as the founding President of the Native Council of Canada (now known as the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples) and the family relocated permanently to Ottawa, Ontario from Edmonton, Alberta. As a Métis visual artist with a deep respect for the traditions and knowledge of her people, the majority of her work explores and celebrates  the beauty of the natural world. She is the author of three books and her artwork has been utilized as cover artwork for many publications. Belcourt's work has been featured in two documentary films: "So Much Depends Upon Who Holds The Shovel" (2008, Wayne Peltier) and "A Life in Balance" (2012, Kathy Browning). Her artistic work has been commissioned by the Gabriel Dumont Institute (Saskatoon, 2004), the Nature Conservancy of Canada and the Centre for Traditional Knowledge & Museum of Nature (Ottawa, 2002), and is found in the permanent collections of the National Gallery of Canada, the Thunder Bay Art  Gallery and the Canadian Museum of Civilization, First People's Hall. Belcourt is a past recipient of awards from the Canada Council for the Arts, the Ontario Arts Council and the Métis Nation of Ontario. Community activism. Belcourt is the project creator and lead coordinator of the Walking With Our Sisters, a crowd-sourced commemorative art installation for the missing and murdered Indigenous women of Canada and the United States. Started in 2012 this project has toured throughout communities in North America and continues to be driven by community volunteers. In 2014, Belcourt founded the community based The Onaman Collective  with Isaac Murdoch and Erin Konsmo. This project aims to preserve traditional knowledge, language, and teachings. In recent years Belcourt has become a vocal advocate for the need for a Métis land base and the power of Indigenous language restoration. The Onaman Collective has also worked to connect traditional knowledge keepers and elders with Indigenous youth. The Collective has also engaged in advocacy around water protection and raising awareness of the need to protect the Great Lakes and other bodies of water. They created a series of banners free to download on their website to use during water and land  protection events. These banners are act of solidarity between water, land and animals protectors from different communities across Turtle Island. In the same year, Belcourt was also involved in promoting the "blue dot" movement as a way of visually protesting government decisions around the First Nations Control of First Nations Education Act. The blue dots added to photographs in this movement were used as a way of identifying the marginalized people left out of the conversations by the Canadian Government. As a form of activism in 2016, Belcourt requested the Métis Nation of Ontario remove her name from the organization 's registry. Belcourt's request was in part based on her disagreement with the organization's decision to sign deals with mining companies such as Energy East and Nuclear Waste Management Organization. Beginning in 2017, Belcourt was involved in the establishment 150 Acts of Resistance project. This initiative was designed to counter the Canadian government narrative around the "Canada 150" sesquicentennial celebration and to promote a discussion of the realities of colonialism and Indigenous resistance in Canada. Artwork. Painting. Belcourt has created large, mural-sized acrylic paintings that resemble the beadwork of her ancestors and community, by using her brush  to make tiny dots that resemble beadwork. Her paintings are filled with floral designs that include insects, birds and other animals, spread out across the canvas. These are not just floral patterns or illustrations, but Belcourt has created stories for each work. In 2014, Christi Belcourt was inspired to make a acrylic on canvas painting with measurements of 36 by 48 inches and named, "Offerings and Prayers for Genebek Ziibing". According to Belcourt, “between 1955 to 1978, there were over 30 tailings dumps and spills from uranium mines at Elliot Lake into the 10 lakes and Serpent River. The radiation  from uranium dumps completely killed the life in the waters and the people of Genaabaajing are still living with the devastating environmental effects today.” According to a case study on Elliot Lake written in 1982, by nuclear analyst Ralph Torrie, “At Elliot Lake, Ontario, tailings were dumped into various lakes in the Serpent River watershed throughout the 1950s and 1960s.” This painting was created because of the inspiration received from the stories and teachings of Isaac Murdoch a Indigenous artist and environmentalist. Awards. Belcourt is the recipient of numerous awards and grants from the Canada Council for the Arts, the  Ontario Arts Council, the Chalmers Family Fund and the Métis Nation of Ontario, including: