She’s naturally shy, and discovering beading helped her come out of her shell. “I do try to be a flower on the wall until, you know, I just step out of that shell and [. . .] blossom.”

Griffin wanted to pass on the joy of beading to the next generation. She got a $250,000 grant from the Youth Opportunities Fund in Toronto. Since 2020, she has been teaching beading classes both in-person and online from her home in Ottawa.

“The drive was to create safe spaces for Indigenous youth and allies,” she said.

This month, Griffin is one of two local Indigenous . . .

artists participating in events at the Chapeau Regionale Gallerie for National Indigenous History Month.

The other artist is painter Peggy Shannon, who is running painting workshops all month, and is also on the gallery’s organizing committee.

The gallery, a community space next to the town’s landmark St. Alphonsus Church, is hosting these artists for a series of workshops and talks through which they can share their practices with the community. On Saturday, Griffin was on hand to showcase her artwork to gallery visitors.

Both Shannon and Griffin have connections to the area. Griffin, who is Métis, grew up on Allumette Island, and has a cottage in Waltham, which she frequents in the summertime.

Shannon, who identifies as an Algonquin Christian, is also from Allumette Island.

She says it’s important to recognize Indigenous history month because many residents of the area have Indigenous roots.

“When you trace their genealogy back, there’s a lot of Indigenous [heritage],” she said. “You can tell by a lot of the people you see here, you think ‘Yeah, they got some Indigenous blood in them.’”

The gallery is where many people go for genealogical research in the Upper Pontiac.

Last year, it became the new home of the Pontiac Genealogy Society, formerly located in the George Bryson House in Mansfield.

The gallery has published a number of books tracing the lineage of the families on Allumette Island and nearby communities.

A few years ago, a bit of genealogical research done at the gallery found that Griffin and Shannon were actually cousins. The pair were pleasantly surprised but not shocked, noting it’s a small community where everyone is connected to each other.

Shannon said they are not alone. Many folks who moved away from the region years ago are now coming back to discover their heritage, and many of them are discovering Indigenous roots in their families.

“They really appreciate the fact they can come back and look up all this information,” Shannon said. “Because [. . .] if nobody cares, it just gets lost. So it’s really a treasure.”

The gallery building itself has a rich history. It’s located on the property of the historic St. Alphonsus stone church that has overlooked Chapeau since 1888, and was historically the residence of the bishops and priests that have presided over the church.

The gallery also houses a gift shop featuring the work of other local artists, many of whom are Indigenous. There is also a thrift store, which contains many historical treasures from the region.

“There’d been a lot of material collected over the years, and it all ended up right here,” Shannon said. “People are moving to an apartment. They have a lot of stuff and they don’t want it thrown away. They want it preserved.”

Shannon said the gallery has struggled to get funding. They’re operating only off of proceeds from the thrift store, gift shop and from community donations.

She said they are trying to get a grant to replace the roof, which has recently begun leaking.

They are in the process of trying to acquire the building from the Archdiocese of Pembroke, which owns the property.

“If we can get a lease, we’d be able to get some money from the government. So that’s what we’re pushing for now.”

Committee members of the Chapeau Regionale Gallerie are organizing events throughout June for National Indigenous History Month. From left are Helen O’Brien, Donna Gagnon, Patsea Griffin and Griffin’s dog, Ruby.

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