Indians & Dogs: Walking Between Two Worlds in Art and History
Indians and Dogs
History Allegory and the Sacred Word
First Premiere at the NEO-NATIVISTS exhibition
Original NEO-NATIVISTS exhibition poster
Pitt Gallery Vancouver 1991
Donald Alfred Morin
October 19, 2026
Indians & Dogs: Walking Between Two Worlds in Art and History
Archival production stills, personal letters and historical theatre materials come together in this illustrated reflection by Donald Alfred Morin. From his early work as a production assistant on First Blood (1982) through decades of theatre, dance, music and experimental filmmaking, Morin examines his experience as an Indigenous artist and Sixties Scoop survivor navigating the relationships between cultures, languages and ways of understanding the world.
At the centre is Indians & Dogs, developed from Morin’s writings and those of the late Gitxsan poet and playwright Neil Benson. The essay honours Benson and the late Âhasiw Maskêgon-Iskwêw (Donald Ghostkeeper), whose invitation in the spring of 1989 helped set the project in motion. It also remembers the artists, teachers, friends and community members whose contributions gave the work its life.
Through Danny Dog, portrayed by the late Jimy Sidlar, and Willy Frencheater, performed by Morin, the work brought Indigenous oral storytelling into conversation with poetry, original music, live theatre, video and computer imagery. Returning to what the late Grace Mirehouse recognized as an allegory of Contact, Morin considers colonialism, assimilation and the contradictions of accumulating knowledge and material wealth while losing touch with wisdom, community and spiritual responsibility.
The essay connects this creative history with Morin’s continuing film work and his faith in the Creator and Jesus Christ. It asks what remains when the machinery surrounding us is unplugged—and returns us to the earth, the breath, the wind, and our responsibility to the vulnerable and to one another.
