Saskatoon's Diefenbaker Centre exhibit celebrates Métis families

A new exhibit at the University of Saskatchewan’s Diefenbaker Centre is focused on raising Métis children.

Opikinawasowin: Growing Métis Children includes several artworks by Métis artist Leah Marie Dorion as well as artifacts from Dorion’s personal collection. Together they tell the story of child-rearing and development in the Métis culture, according to the Centre’s website.

“This exhibit is all about the material experience of raising their children and the love, the joy, the happiness that goes along with it,” curator and exhibits and collections manager, Helena Gessner told CTV News.

The artwork was created between 2015 and 2021 and is a combination of illustrations from children’s books and other pieces of work.

“As a child, she didn't see herself represented in kid's books and she wanted to change that and have something for her kids to have,” Gessner said.

Dorion did her Master’s degree in Métis child rearing, Gessner said.

“It's not the same as the nuclear family that people have in other communities that you know, the mom the dad and the kids. It was much bigger than that. Their family included their aunts, their uncles, their grandparents. This exhibit highlights the importance of grandmothers and their role in raising the kids and their family.”

The centre is open Wednesday through Saturday from 12 to 4:30 p.m. until May 19.