Onaman Collective is an Indigenous, grassroots, land-based art initiative founded by Michif artist Christi Belcourt, Michif artist Erin Marie Konsmo, and Anishinaabe artist Isaac Murdoch to share traditional knowledge and language with youth. On the name of the collective, Sâkihitowin Awâsis writes: “Onaman is the name of the red ochre paint used by Anishinaabek, Nehiyawak, and Michif peoples. It is also used as a clotting agent for wounds in traditional medicine–a telling metaphor for the intergenerational healing associated with the land-based knowledge and language revitalization cultivated by the collective’s wide-ranging creative projects and community collaborations.” Sâkihitowin Awâsis, “Keep it in the Ground!,” Canadian Art (Summer 2017), 63.

With the belief that the arts are the most powerful medium to create positive social change within communities, collective artists Belcourt and Murdoch have been making banner images freely available for land and water protectors and organizers to use for land or water protection actions. Onaman Collective, Banner Images for Land and Water Protectors, 2017. Banner downloads are available here: http://onamancollective.com/murdoch-belcourt-banner-downloads Thunderbird Woman, a recurring figure in the banners, has appeared on the frontlines of Standing Rock, on the edges of the Alberta Tar Sands, at a rally against Enbridge Line 5 pipeline along Highway 17 near Espanola, Ontario, and on the lawn of the Supreme Court in Ottawa. Alicia Elliot, “#Resistance150: Christi Belcourt on Indigenous History, Resilience and Resurgence,” CBC (February 22, 2017): http://www.cbc.ca/2017/resistance150-christi-belcourt-on-indigenous-history-resilience-and-resurgence-1.3992226