Kwakwaka’wakw author, artist, and political activist Gord Hill has been involved in Indigenous decolonization and anti-globalization movements since 1990, with an aim to advocate through a variety of mediums. His books, The 500 Years of Indigenous Resistance Comic Book, The Anti-Capitalist Resistance Comic Book, and The Antifa Comic Book, focus on the history and colonial practice of Indigenous land and peoples.
This month, Hill will deliver a lecture at the University of Victoria on the contribution of art to social movements as part of the Lehan Family Activism & the Arts Lecture Series.
Through his involvement in the Native Youth Movement and his recognition of inaccessible historical literature, Hill developed an art form that delivers his message attainably and efficiently.
“Just a few years after Oka, 1990… I found that even among youth at that time, it was hard to access the history of Oka,” says Hill. “And that’s when I started doing these short comics about these different acts of resistance carried out by Indigenous people because I felt like the comic was more accessible.”
Hill says he found the medium of graphic novels to be a helpful and convenient format to communicate large ideas that go often unrecognized. He finds acknowledgment of the Indigenous defiance carried out for centuries lacking and says that his goal to share his research through art helps to counter the common history taught both in schools and society.
“When I looked at the history, there was a lot of resistance. And there’s areas here in the Americas where European colonial forces were never able to conquer them, such as the Maputa, or they took centuries of struggle and warfare before they were able to kind of dominate that region,” he says. “So to me, that’s very inspiring and it shows that the European powers weren’t omnipotent or all-powerful. And then within that history, there’s tactics and strategies that can be learned and applied to our movements of today.”
During his lecture, Hill will also be discussing his influences and co-contributors to the movement, such as Louis Hall, a famous Mohawk writer and artist who designed the warrior flag, among other things.
“He did a lot of different graphics, and he wrote the warrior’s handbook [The Mohawk Warrior Society: A Handbook on Sovereignty and Survival]. So he was kind of like an inspiration,” says Hill. “And I think he inspired a lot of other people today through his history.”
Hill’s dedication to advocacy is supported by his interest in understanding and recognizing history and its systems of oppression. Through art and literature, he is aware of the means of communication that are integral to promoting mobility in change.
“History is an important subject to me because it helps us understand the society we live in today because it’s all the result of a history, historical processes. And within that history, there’s a history of struggle and oppression and resistance. And this is mostly what I involve myself in,” he says. “And art has a special role to play because it can communicate messages and ideas that kind of transcend the written and even the spoken word.”
Hill embraces both traditional and alternative forms of social advocacy. In his desire for systemic change, he believes in the power of diverse voices and channels.
“Writing is still really important because it can provide a lot more depth to a subject. It’s just that it’s not always that accessible to people. So I think that diversity is important. Even posters and stickers and leaflets, like graffiti, all this type of stuff is part of the culture of resistance that movements use to communicate and mobilize people,” he says. “Those are all important.”
Gord Hill
5 pm Thursday, March 7
Free, 110 David Turpin Building, UVic
events.uvic.ca