Soulflame Offers Ledger Art Workshop at the 2019 A.T.C. Youth Gathering

On June 8, 2019, the Alberta Tribal Council in Fort McMurray hosted the 2019 Youth Gathering and Handgames Tournament. There were handgames, Indigenous poetry workshops and much more. Soulflame Creative Services was there offering Ledger Art Workshops.

Ledger art is a term for Indigenous narrative drawing or painting on paper or cloth. It is primarily created with hisorical documents such as Resdiential School Ledgers, School books, Bibles, treaties or royal proclimations. This style of art flourished primarily from the 1860s to the 1920s. A revival of ledger art began in the 1960s and 1970s.

I prepared a large amount of historical documents for the participants to use, which I found online. The original Ledger art was done with ORIGINAL FOUND documents.

Some of the content was hard to read, but it creates a perfect canvas for conversation and reclamation.

Participants were given pens, pencils, markers and pencil crayons to create their masterpiece.

There were all ages in attendance. It was great to see different perspectives from the different age groups.

We even had a little Art gallery on the wall, displaying the art, along with examples of professional artists who have created Ledger Art in the past.

The smiles on their faces says it all. What a wonderful time with the Athabasca Tribal Council!