June is for identity, reflection, and pride.
June is National Indigenous History Month—and as someone with Indigenous roots, this month always hits close to home. It’s a time to reflect, to reconnect, and to honour the stories that have been buried, silenced, or rewritten. It’s also Pride Month, and I love that we can celebrate both identities side by side. Our stories deserve to be seen in full colour—multilayered, complex, and joyful.
This year, the Vancouver Art Gallery is offering two standout events that do just that: hold space for identity, resistance, and cultural expression.
Black-Indigenous Intersections in Canada – A Conversation
Date: Friday, June 20
Time: 6:30–7:30 PM
Location: Courtroom 302, Vancouver Art Gallery
Cost: Free for Experience Members and Indigenous Peoples. $5 for Ideas Members. $10 for Access Pass Holders and the general public.
Note: Tickets do not include Gallery admission. Seating is first come, first served.
What does it mean to be at the intersection of Blackness and Indigeneity in Canada? To simultaneously traverse the interiors of ancestral connections while navigating diasporic displacement?
In this powerful talk, Damara Jacobs-Petersen, Curator of Indigenous Engagement at the Museum of Anthropology, and Modeste “Monday” Zankpe, performer and cultural advocate, will explore how their multifaceted heritages—Squamish, Snuneymuxw, African American, Secwépemc (Esk’etemc), and Ewe (Togo)—shape their ways of being, knowing, and imagining.
They’ll dive into:
- The tensions and harmonies of living with multiple identities
- What terms like Afro-Indigenous, Black-Indigenous, and Indigenous-Black can (and can’t) capture
- How identity informs their work in cultural advocacy, education, and art
- Storytelling as resistance and connection
This isn’t just a conversation—it’s an opportunity to reframe how we see identity in Canada.
Film Screening: I Am Ishi – Directed by Dana Claxton
Date: Saturday, June 21 (National Indigenous Peoples Day)
Time: 7–9 PM
Location: The Cinematheque, 1131 Howe Street
Visual artist Dana Claxton (Hunkpapa Lakota) directs this haunting, experimental film that expands on James Luna’s groundbreaking 1980s performance piece Artifact Piece.
I Am Ishi is a visual reckoning—confronting the legacy of colonialism and the objectification of Indigenous bodies in academic and museum settings.
Expect:
- A powerful reimagining of Ishi, the last known member of the Yahi people
- A poetic and unsettling exploration of colonial violence
- An homage to James Luna, whose work transformed Indigenous contemporary art
This is not just a screening. It’s a statement. Get tickets.
Why It Matters
As someone with Indigenous blood, this isn’t just programming—it’s personal. These events reflect what it means to carry ancestral memory, navigate cultural complexity, and reclaim voice and space.
And because it’s also Pride Month, this moment holds extra meaning. We are not one thing. We are many. And we deserve to show up fully—queer, Indigenous, racialized, and proud.
If you’re in Vancouver this June, don’t miss this chance to engage with meaningful art and dialogue. The Vancouver Art Gallery is doing more than displaying culture—they’re fostering it.
Mary in Vancity 
Leave a comment