Protest Banners / Lithograph “Water is Life”
Christi Belcourt and Isaac Murdoch, Onaman Collective
Founded by Michif (Métis) visual artist Christi Belcourt and Ojibway artist Isaac Murdoch, The Onaman Collective consists of Indigenous artists and environmentalists who love the land and believe in the spirits of the land. “We believe in the resilience and beauty of our people. We believe in our Elders and our young people. With everything we do, the underlying theme is always respect for the land and reclamation of the ways of our ancestors,” they say.
Belcourt and Murdoch create protest banners such as the ones on display above. Towering over the exhibit is Murdoch’s Wet'suwet'en banner, a forceful invocation of solidarity and unity in the movement. And since the building of oil pipelines endangers the water supply of many, the “water is life” design seen on the banners and the signed lithograph on the wall to the right, became recognizable across the movement. The Onaman Collective offers these banners for free on their website, www.onamancollective.com, and includes a video on how to print and assemble them for use at protests.
