CyberPowWow facts for kids
CyberPowWow was a unique online art gallery and chat space. It was created by and for Indigenous artists. This special website showed digital artworks and had a library of texts.
The idea for CyberPowWow started in 1996. It was live online from 1997 to 2004. It went through four main versions. CyberPowWow was both a website and a chatroom. All the art shown on the site was made just for CyberPowWow. The website was hosted on a platform called The Palace. This was a very popular chat program in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
The First CyberPowWow Art Show
For the very first CyberPowWow event, six Indigenous artists and writers were invited. They created new artworks especially for the website. The art show began with a live chat event happening in many places at once.
Artists, writers, and the public could log into The Palace. They could talk with the artists and other visitors about the artwork. Skawennati Tricia Fragnito, one of the people who helped create CyberPowWow, said it was a success. It brought Aboriginal art and important topics to a public place. However, sometimes people from other chat rooms would join and interrupt the discussions.
CyberPowWow 2: A New Online Home
CyberPowWow 2 was a big step. It launched its own special Palace chat space just for CyberPowWow. Eight Indigenous artists and writers made this chat space their own. They added custom images, scripts, and different "Indian" avatars.
The artists showed their work and answered questions. Many people from the Canadian contemporary art world were excited to join. They asked lots of questions. Some of the artists included Ahasiw Maskegon-Iskwew and Sheryl Kootenhayoo. Sheryl added a special Quicktime virtual reality piece. Lori Blondeau created and led a virtual round dance.
CPW 2K: CyberPowWow Goes Global
The third version of CyberPowWow was called CPW 2K. This time, it included artists from more places. It had Canadian and American Indigenous artists. For the first time, it also included Australian artists. Non-Indigenous artists were invited too.
Some non-Indigenous participants joined. These included Mare Burgess, a researcher who studies "Indian" warrior women. Another was Sheila Urbanoski, an artist who grew up near an Indigenous reserve. Skawennati wrote about this new step. She said that after building their own space, it was time to invite their neighbors. These "neighbors" were digital artists from the non-Native world. She felt these friends and collaborators could talk about important topics. These topics included how Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal cultures meet.
