(Ottawa, ON) April 07, 2022 – On this week’s episode of Roots and Hoots, host Gordon Spence is pleased to be joined by artist James Darin Corbiere. Darin is Anishinaabe of the Bear Clan, born and raised on Manitoulin Island in Wiikwemkoong. Gordon catches up with Darin as he shares of his life’s journey. From police officer, to teacher, and now artist, Darin’s story reminds us that although we may never be able to fully predict where life will take us, it is only upon reflection that it all makes sense and takes shape.

James Darin Corbiere worked as a police officer in Sudbury for many years. As one of only 2 Indigenous cops in the city at the time, he loved his job. When an injury on the job forced him out of a career he cared deeply for, he knew he had to switch gears. He decided to go back to school and become a teacher. When he contacted the Algoma District School Board for a position, they asked if he could teach Ojibwe/Anishinaabemowin. This was not the “plan”, but he took it on, re-routed himself and recognized what tools he had in himself to be the best teacher for the job. He drew from earlier days of listening to his grandparents talk and the understandings of the aesthetics of the language that came with that. He dove right in.

In the year 2016, one year after the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) Report was released, the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation (OSSTF) put a call out to teachers to help create a toolkit to respond to the 94 recommendations put forth by the TRC. Darin created both a puzzle and a board game for the toolkit. The puzzle is what was chosen for the toolkit, but as the student’s prepared for exams later that year, he decided to use the board game called The Truth in Truth and Reconciliation as a teaching aid. As Darin describes the features of the game, opponents and goals, it is clear how effective and dynamic of a tool this would be for student’s learnings of Indigenous history.

After creating the board game, the heaviness from the past caught up with him and he knew he had to face the pain, to begin healing. Growing up above the marina in Wiikwemkoong, he used to watch Elders go out into their wooden boats, and since then it had always been a dream of his to build a boat. As he acquired lumber from a local saw mill and began the building process, by certain fate something else happened instead. Pens that had been in his shirt pocket oozed ink onto the lumber and shapes and images began to appear in the grains and grooves of the white ash. Darin describes more about the trajectory of his artistic process and how it is the trees who hold the stories. Art is the medium through which he heals, conveys his pain, conveys a shared pain and strengthens in turn.

As the episode winds down, Darin continues to share wise and meaningful perspectives on the levels at which Reconciliation must occur. As with the board game, truth is as important an element as accountability and the process itself of seeking to right wrongs that have been wrong for so long. If you are curious to learn more about The Truth in Truth and Reconciliation board game or see more of Darin’s art, please visit his website at: easternwoodlandart.ca.
To listen to Indigenous Roots and Hoots please visit: https://bit.ly/rootsnhoots Apple Podcasts: https://bit.ly/rnhpodcasts Spotify: https://bit.ly/rnhspotify

The LHF is a national, Indigenous-led, charitable organization that has been working to promote healing and Reconciliation in Canada for over 21 years. The LHF’s goal is to educate and raise awareness about the history and existing intergenerational impacts of the Residential and Day School Systems and subsequent Sixties Scoop on Indigenous (First Nations, Inuit, and Métis) Survivors, their descendants, and their communities to promote hope and healing in Canada. The LHF works to encourage people to address discrimination and injustice in order to contribute to the equity, dignity, and respectful treatment of Indigenous Peoples and to foster Reconciliation.

The LHF has more than 25 educational exhibitions that promote awareness of Indigenous history that are free to borrow and is working on making exhibitions available online. LHF also has curriculum for K-12 and for adults, along with Activity Guides, Workshops and Training, podcasts, all aimed at educating Canadians about Indigenous history and the shared history of Residential and Day Schools, the Sixties Scoop, etc. The LHF works to develop empathy and understanding so as to eliminate racism against Indigenous Peoples.

For media inquiries:
Teresa Edwards, B.A. JD.
Executive Director and In-House Legal Counsel
Legacy of Hope Foundation
Phone: 613-237-4806 Ext. 303 info@legacyofhope.ca