This panoramic video shows both shores of the Grand River in southwestern Ontario – the Six Nations Reserve side and the non-Reserve side – and is patterned after the historic Two-Row Wampum Belt or Kahswenta. The belt features two rows of purple beads alternating with three rows of white beads. Representing a river with two vessels travelling in parallel, its encoded meaning is a guide for maintaining an ongoing relationship of peaceful coexistence between Haudenosaunee (Iroquoian Peoples) and Europeans. Michelson’s presentation reinvests the belt’s meaning in a contemporary context, especially poignant as this year is the 400th anniversary of the first exchange of the Kahswenta between Haudenosaunee and Europeans.
