Aanii, Shé:kon, Wachay, Hello!
LodgePole Arts Alliance (LPAA) is a charitable not-for-profit organization whose mandate is to build an Indigenous owned, operated, programmed, and animated land-based cultural creative center on the eastern edge of the Dish with One Spoon territories (Frontenac biosphere). This conceptual space will be inclusive, grounded in Eastern Woodland (Onkwe’honwe [Haudenosaunee] and Anishinaabe) cultural practices, knowledge and teachings, performances, exhibitions, and celebrations. This Indigenous-focused space will be the first of its kind in Canada on non-First Nation’s treaty/territory lands.
The vision for an Indigenous creative centre grew out of JP Longboat’s (Mohawk, Turtle Clan, Six Nations of the Grand River) years of artistic practice across Canada. In 2019, JP, in partnership with Dr. Terri-Lynn Brennan (Mixed British & Mohawk/Tuscarora, Six Nations of the Grand River), began a 5-year project with ArtsBuild Ontario investigating the feasibility of building Indigenous creative spaces across Ontario. Conversations with multiple communities through this project made it clear that Indigenous Peoples are interested and eager to be a part of such a centre, and this laid the inspiration in 2021, for JP, Terri-Lynn and friend and colleagues Paul Chaput (Métis, Red River Manitoba) and Rhonda Kronyk (Mixed European and Dene, Tsay Keh Dene Nation) to incorporate as LodgePole Arts Alliance.
