Ininaatig
Sugar Maple Tree
The Anishinaabe community have been creating maple syrup from sugar maple trees for
generations. According to Anishinaabe tradition, the practice first started when
Bgojinishnaabenhsag (“Little People”) had telepathically communicated the process to them in the form of a dream.
The Bgojinishnaabenhsag are described to be extremely elusive, with the ability to communicate telepathically and disappear at will. They have pale spaces and are about knee-high, wearing cloaks and hooded garments. This is how we’ve chosen to represent the Bgojinishnaabenhsag in our installation.
The presence of the Bgojinishnaabenhsag on the projector screen is dependent on how many people are viewing the installation. The more people there are, the fewer Bgojinishnaabenhsag appear― representing their elusive nature and the fact that they are not often seen by humans.
What is the Significance of the Tree Portrayed?
The tree portrayed in the installation is based off a local tree located here in Stratford. It is the sugar maple (or “Ininaatig”) located on “Toboggan Hill” behind Stratford Intermediate school. This specific tree is almost 120 years old and won Tree Trust’s “Tree of the Year” award in 2023.
In this installation, we’ve reimagined the tree in its full potential― undisrupted by human activity. By moving from left to right, viewers can see the tree at different stages in its lifecycle.