About OKW
O'Kaadenigan Wiingashk is an Aboriginal Women's multi-disciplinary
Arts Collective, formed in 2004 by Sarah
DeCarlo, Sara Roque and
Patti Shaughnessy. Our
cultural and spiritual mentor is Taajii
Dorothy Cameron. William
Kingfisher joined the collective in 2008. We embody the spirit
of our collective vision through our name, which translates from
Anishnaabe as "weaving sweetgrass in toward the heart of the
braid." Sweetgrass grows in abundance in this area and has
been used for generations as medicine in our First Nation communities.
We believe that expression through the arts is also great medicine.
Through our many community partnerships we are boosting the profile
of the arts in our First Nations communities and informing people
about Indigenous talent in the wider Peterborough area. We achieve
this through the facilitation of community based workshops for youth
in surrounding First Nations, master classes with senior professional
artists, community partnerships and the presentation and promotion
of Indigenous artists from across the globe.
OKW has become one of the most important instigators of Indigenous
arts programming in the community through its consultations and
collaborations with other arts organizations, such as
Peterborough New Dance/Public Energy, Artspace,
and the Peterborough
Arts Umbrella.
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