Monkman’s alter ego, Miss Chief Eagle Testickle, takes visitors on a journey through time.
By Julia Tramontin
Entering Cree artist Kent Monkman’s new exhibit, visitors are greeted by two large acrylic paintings depicting people floating in the universe. In one of them, multi-coloured dinosaurs soar through space in a Michaelangelo-esque style. One of the figures appears in both paintings, posing ethereally with long flowing hair and high heels.
Monkman’s exhibit, “Being Legendary,” which opened at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto on Oct. 8, contains much more than physical objects. Rather, Monkman gives visitors a space to bear witness to history not taught in schools.
Weaving 35 paintings with museum artifacts, Monkman emphasizes how Indigenous knowledge and culture are embedded in our land and history by depicting Indigenous figures in scenes where their presence was largely ignored. At the same time, he highlights the detrimental impact of colonialism on Indigenous communities.
The exhibit is told from an Indigenous perspective, specifically, that of Monkman’s stiletto-wearing alter ego, Miss Chief Eagle Testickle, who is centred in the paintings for the first half of the exhibit. According to the exhibit’s description, Miss Chief is a “shape-shifting, time-travelling, gender-fluid” trickster often depicted in drag that Monkman has used in his work since the early 2000s to challenge colonial accounts of Indigenous history.
Beginning with her creation in the first two paintings, Miss Chief becomes our guide throughout “Being Legendary,” telling the planet’s story through accessible descriptions.
As visitors move through the gallery, paintings become intertwined with museum artifacts.
Following the first two paintings, a 76-million-year-old horned dinosaur skull sits in a glass display case. Directly across from that is an acrylic painting of that same skull being inspected by four-inch-tall Cree mîmîkwîsiwak (or the Little People), who appear throughout Monkman’s work as spiritual guides.
This first half of the exhibit is colourful and harmonious, emphasizing the role of Indigenous storytelling and knowledge in history. However, the stark contrast between the exhibit’s pre-colonial and post-colonial sections is the most jarring.
Unlike the joy from the first half of the exhibit, the second half recalls the violence and destruction of colonialism. One heartbreaking painting, Study for The Sparrow, is set alone in a dark chapel-like alcove, depicting a young girl in a nightgown reaching towards a bird perched on a windowsill as a crucifix hangs on the wall behind her.
One particularly prevalent theme is Monkman’s emphasis on circularity. Before entering the next room, there is a warning on the wall, reading, “This room might break your spirit,” referencing the telling of an 1885 massacre where eight Indigenous men were hanged, depicted in the following paintings. In the corner, an empty display case sits, recalling how a sacred meteor called the pâpâmihaw asinîy or Creator Stone that sat there was stolen from the Cree and kept in a museum. Monkman calls out the museum itself, with the text on the wall urging for the return of other sacred items, “especially the bones in this basement.”
This is particularly eye-opening when recalling the ROM’s new rebranding and tagline of “ROM Immortal,” which references the museum’s role in storytelling, despite its past participation in colonialism.
The final section of the exhibit is the most powerful. The room, titled “Shining Stars,” contains 11 portraits paying tribute to Indigenous people, including teachers, activists, and artists, keeping tradition and culture alive while leaving visitors with renewed hope for the future.
This exhibit is not just about seeing art. It asks visitors to witness the atrocities of the past while celebrating Indigenous heritage. Monkman’s “Being Legendary” is a must-see for people wanting to confront Canada’s colonial past and understand the role of Indigenous culture in history.