This work is part of a five-painting series, Premises for Self-Rule, 1994, which focuses on the false promises of the Canadian government regarding land rights. It emphasizes how places can be socially and politically constructed, and asserts First Nations’ historic and legal connections to the land. The works combine lushly coloured paintings with photographs of Indigenous subjects and legal texts from treaties that confirm self-government. Here, Houle uses an excerpt from Treaty No. 1 (signed in 1871), which transformed the District of Assiniboia into the province of Manitoba.
Robert Houle: Making Art to Decolonize History
Robert Houle, Premises for Self-Rule: Treaty No. 1, 1994
Oil on canvas, photo emulsion on canvas, laser cut vinyl, 152.4 x 304.8 cm, Winnipeg Art Gallery