Guest Blog: Victoria Island
My name is Toni Baggos, I’m a fourth year student at Carleton studying Journalism and History. I’m also First Nations, so when Carleton’s Centre for Aboriginal Culture and Education sent out an ad looking for people to give their perspectives on the Douglas Cardinal Project, I thought it’d be a good opportunity to learn a little more about an influential Aboriginal figure- and put those journalism skills to use.
I knew almost immediately that I’d want to learn more about Cardinal’s involvement with the proposed healing and cultural Centre on Victoria Island. Not only have I reported on an event to promote the vision and the plans for this space but I’m also from the same reserve (Kitigan Zibi) as the late William Commanda, the Algonquin elder who the source for the vision was. So I already had some knowledge and interest in Cardinal’s Victoria Island project.
My first reaction while looking at the collection was definitely surprise over the sheer amount of files there were. Thankfully there were only about three boxes on the Victoria Island project which made it easier for me to gather information.
While looking over the designs themselves for the Indigenous healing centre, the first thing I’d noticed was how many details were taken into consideration and how in each draft the purpose of each space changed, like they were trying to get it just right. The second thing I realized was how well Cardinal’s style fit the project.
Cardinal's design not only reflects the landscape of the island (each curve of the proposed building fits the contours of the island) but he managed to reflect the balance that is important in the vision for the island and in Aboriginal culture as well.
What I gathered from the design report was that the Centre would be about striking a balance between the past (for example, traditional beliefs) and the present realities for Indigenous people and about harmony between Aboriginals and non- Aboriginals that comes from balance.
This can be seen in Cardinal's design which not only includes the old Carbide factory but would incorporates it as part of the new building.
