Jeff Thomas (formally known as Jeffrey A. Thomas)
Postcards for Indians
“Buffalo Robe: Happy Canada Day”
IKEA parking lot, Ottawa, Ontario, 2013
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Jeff Thomas | A Necessary Fiction: My Conversation with George Hunter and Edward S. Curtis
Exhibition JUN 29 2017 - AUG 27 2017
Canadian Art
A Necessary Fiction extends Jeff Thomas’s engagement with image-makers who have used Indigenous people as the subjects of their work, interrogating the relevance of such work in light of today’s self-determination movement. Employing the work of both George Hunter and Edward S. Curtis as a catalyst, Thomas presents an alternative to the hegemonic and static narratives they both construct and reinforce.The source of the above excerpt is Canadian Art Magazine.
Now why would an indigenous, and proud to be, photographer accept these awards:
In 1998, [Jeff Thomas] was awarded the Canada Council’s prestigious Duke and Duchess of York Award in Photography and was inducted into the Royal Canadian Academy of Art. In 2008, he received The Karsh Award in photography, and in 2017, Thomas received a REVAL Indigenous Art Award.
I looked up "REVAL Indigenous Art Award" (without quotes) and was given the options by google:
REVEAL Indigenous Art AwardAnd under REVAL Indigenous Art Award, the Art Gallery of Mississauga came up.
Search only for REVAL Indigenous Art Award
And sure enough the lazy editors at Canadian Art Magazine had quoted directly from the AGM's official announcement where:
in 2017, Thomas received a REVAL Indigenous Art Award.So much for:
The Art Gallery of Mississauga (AGM) would like to acknowledge and give thanks to the land on which we work. The AGM has the privilege of operating in the territory of the Mississaugas of the New Credit First Nation and traditional homeland of the Wendat, Anishinaabe and Haudenosaunee nations. We are thankful to the many First Nations, Inuit, Métis and global Indigenous peoples who call this region home.For an art gallery "committed to recognizing and incorporating diverse Indigenous perspectives," this is pretty much an inexcusable mistake.
The AGM is committed to recognizing and incorporating diverse Indigenous perspectives within exhibitions and programming, and highlighting the numerous Indigenous artists who have contributed to this gallery. The AGM is dedicated to providing a platform for contemporary Indigenous art and curatorial practices, and hosts events and programs that reflect various cultural topics and identities. (see statement at the bottom of the AGM's website under "Land Acknowledgement")
And its even worse for a national art magazine not to fact check the brochure announcements of a local art gallery.
Or not to know about (oh the art crime) a national indigenous art award.
But on a subliminal level, who wants to support those which constantly berate you?!
What sane person (or group or ethnicity or country) will endlessly listen to such continuous derision?
But that is what "indigenous" peoples and artists do! All the time!
The AGM has this plaque on its website where it is announcing Thomas' exhibition. But it is illegible. Yet another gaffe! (Or is the subliminal, ever recurring, message: "We don't know any (about) Indians. We don't really care about Indians. We get a lot of money because of Indians. Therefore. We will put up all the shows and programs for Indians (as long as we get paid)).
Here is what Jeff Thomas writes on his fancy website ("urban" = code word for "poor"):
My study of Indian-ness seeks to create an image bank of my urban-Iroquois experience, as well as re-contextualize historical images of First Nations people for a contemporary audience..e.: All these white people told you lies. Now I tell you our truth.
In the Indian world there is only Indian truth. Everything else is lies or up for Indian Inquiry.
Grants given to Thomas by white people
2017;
REVEAL Indigenous Art Awards: $10,000 (private and public - e.g. Canada Council for the Arts - monies)
2016:
Aboriginal Arts Projects: $12,000
Ontario Arts Council
5 years and beyond:
Ontario Arts Council: Project Grants: 1984, 1986, 1995, 1997, “A” Grants: 2001, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2013, 2015
Ontario Arts Council: Chalmers Fellowship 2005, 2009
Ontario Arts Council: Exhibition Assistance 1985, 1996, 2004
Ontario Arts Council: Aboriginal Arts Projects, 2008
Canada Council for the Arts: Project Grants: “B” Grant: 1989, 1992, 1998 “A” Grant: 2002, 2007
Canada Council for the Arts: Critics & Curators grant: 2004, 2007
Canada Council for the Arts: Long-Term Grant, 2011-2012
Regional Municipality of Ottawa-Carleton Project Grants: “B” 1997, “A” Grant: 2001, 2005, 2007
Manitoba Arts Council Project Grants: 1990, 1991
Grants given to Thomas over the last 5 years:
GRANTS
Ontario Arts Council: Project Grants: 1984, 1986, 1995, 1997, “A” Grants: 2001, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2013, 2015
Ontario Arts Council: Chalmers Fellowship 2005, 2009
Ontario Arts Council: Exhibition Assistance 1985, 1996, 2004
Ontario Arts Council: Aboriginal Arts Projects, 2008
Canada Council for the Arts: Project Grants: “B” Grant: 1989, 1992, 1998 “A” Grant: 2002, 2007
Canada Council for the Arts: Critics & Curators grant: 2004, 2007
Canada Council for the Arts: Long-Term Grant, 2011-2012
Regional Municipality of Ottawa-Carleton Project Grants: “B” 1997, “A” Grant: 2001, 2005, 2007
Manitoba Arts Council Project Grants: 1990, 1991
Results Announcement
Deadline Date: February 17,
http://www.arts.on.ca/grants/general-granting-information/grant-results/2016/february/aboriginal-arts-projects
Thomas isn't even a "Canadian" native.
Thomas was born in Buffalo, New York in 1956 and is a member of the Onondaga tribe of Six Nations, Ontario. [Source]And
Jeffrey M. Thomas is an Iroquois/Onondaga photographer, curator, and cultural analyst, born in Buffalo, New York and now living in Ottawa
In the fluid world of Indians, where they disregard borders (really for opportunistic reasons getting the best of both native worlds), they will pass fluidly from one country to another, belligerently defining"territory" boundaries, and defying national ones. And they are permitted to do so. They are neither Canadian nor American, after all. They are natives.
Welcome to indigenous-minded Canada!
Jeff Thomas' Son Bear
Presumably a Canadian Native
A Tribe Called Red, music band in which Bear performs
"Stadium Pow Wow," 2016