Card - Jamelie Hassan - Deshkan Ziibi

Artist: Jamelie Hassan
Title: Deshkan Ziibi
Date: 1985/2021

Greeting card, blank inside.

One of my favourite views in London, Ontario is from Harris Park where the waters of the Deshkan Ziibi flow across the rocks.

 In 2021, embracing the Indigenous name for this river, I inscribed the words in pencil onto the original watercolour I had painted in 1985. The 2 dates are noted on the watercolour.

Deshkan Ziibi comes from the original Anishinaabemowin name and translates as “ Antler or Horned River”. The river, presently known as the Thames River, is one of southern Ontario's largest rivers, named, like the city and many of its landmarks, to mimic the locations of England by the early colonizing settlers to this region. Today, there is a strong movement among many of us to refer to the river's original Indigenous name.