On June 8th, several people gathered to plant, celebrate, and support the Indigenous garden just north of the Ociciwan Contemporary Art Centre (10124 96th Street). The garden was started several years ago but is not yet widely known, except to people who live in the area and invite their friends to join them. 

If the 2024 planting party is any indication, that is about to change. This event offered free food and free entertainment: a delicious buffet provided by Double Greeting Won Ton House next door, and a fine performance by Indigenous folk musician Jay Gilday. The organizers even wisely provided a canopy tent to protect attendees from the rain that came and went throughout the day.

Kiona Callihoo Ligtvoet, Ociciwan Project Coordinator, says the garden is inspired by the late Mi’kmaq artist Mike MacDonald’s Butterfly and Medicine Gardens (kamâmak nihtâwikihcikan). Composed of plants indigenous to the Americas, the garden attracts pollinators such as bees and butterflies, and features plants that Indigenous people use as medicine.

The garden is open 24/7, and visitors are welcome to enjoy lovely plants, which include highbush cranberries, bluebells, brown-eyed Susans, strawberries, sage, and sweetgrass, to name a few.

A key initiative of the Ociciwan Centre is to provide activities in the garden. For example, the space has hosted beading circles, talks by Elders, film nights, and Indigenous artists. “A number of our visitors like to meet outdoors,” says Callihoo Ligtvoet. “We want to accommodate people who might not visit exhibitions in the gallery space next door.” 

The garden and the June 8th party are supported in part by the Boyle Street Community League. Ociciwan supports Indigenous contemporary art and advocates for innovative, experimental creative practices and research.

Anita Jenkins is a retired writer and editor who lives in Boyle Street.