I went to see the Robert Houle exhibit at the University of Manitoba’s School of Art Gallery today.
After taking his art in, I picked up the show catalogue and read the piece written by David McIntosh. There was a part in it that particularly resonated with me. For purposes of this post, I’m only going to share that specific portion (quoted from page six), but if you ever have the opportunity to read the whole catalogue, it will give better context.
“For Robert, a more meaningful concept than forgiveness is pahgedenaun, an Anishnabe term that translates roughly to English as “let it go from your mind” and which appears in the painting titled people in Sandy Bay Residential School 1. Pahgedenaun is a self-defining and self-determining act while forgiveness is an act of submission to the will of others”.