Celebrating kinship, resistance and love
A new art exhibition featuring works from Mount Royal University students Alaskan Manywounds and Avery Follett, and the Jellybean Collective (Mount Royal educators Jaime Waucaush-Warn, Karen Pheasant-Neganigwane, Gloria Pérez-Rivera, and Celeste Pang)—is celebrating the powerful and multifaceted role of the “aunty” across cultures and identities.
Channeling what Waucaush-Warn describes as "big aunty energy," the Aunties/Anti Art Exhibition was installed on Mount Royal’s Main Street on Friday, March 7, in time for International Women’s Day.
Aunties more than a relative
Aunties are the keepers of tradition and bearers of wisdom at the heart of many Indigenous families and communities. An aunty is a confidante, a mentor and a steady source of guidance (even if that means a little tough love sometimes). Both an honour and a responsibility, the concept of the "aunty" extends beyond bloodlines. Being an aunty is not just about lineage; it is about presence, care and community.
This sentiment is not exclusive to Indigenous cultures. Across Latin America, where societies have historically been shaped by patriarchal systems, it is often the women — the aunties — who lead the family with unwavering strength and support. Their presence helps ensure that cultural teachings and family solidarity are passed down and interwoven through generations.
Within 2SLGBTQIA+ communities, particularly among people who have been marginalized or estranged from their biological families, the “chosen family” is also of great importance. Some find solace in the support of queer elders, who take on aunty-like roles and provide a sense of belonging and guidance. In this way, “aunty” transcends gender, embodying relationality and the importance of intergenerational bonds in fostering resilience and understanding.
“Aunties are women who have pursued their own paths; some are mothers, some dare to be single. Some aunties are not women, but queer and genderqueer people who are also there to share their thoughts and to confide in,” Pang explains. “To me, aunties are truth-tellers: telling it like it is, and being witnesses, accomplices and examples.”
“Being called Aunty, to me, is the epitome of an honour,” Pheasant-Neganigwane says.
Exhibit highlights aunties past and present
Through a collection of diverse artistic expressions, the Aunties/Anti Exhibition seeks to highlight the ways in which aunties have been an integral part of history, even when their contributions have been overlooked.
Inspired after a land walk in the mountains together last year, Waucaush-Warn and Pheasant-Neganigwane began planting the seeds to create the Jellybean Collective and its first public exhibition. “Karen and I, both as Anishinabekwe, always wanted to work together creatively and knew Gloria and Celeste would also be great to work with,” Waucaush-Warn explains.
“Karen wanted to have the exhibition on International Women’s Day and we all agreed. It was our passion to promote gender equality and step forward in solidarity as women of colour and diverse backgrounds working as scholars and artists at Mount Royal University.”
Pheasant-Neganigwane is making her art exhibition debut with Aunties/Anti. A lifelong competitive powwow dancer inducted into the Canadian Dance Hall of Fame in 2023, she taught herself how to bead when she was a teenager. While she says she hasn’t always considered herself an artist, Pheasant-Neganigwane is now honoured to be celebrating her gift alongside the other participants. “My belief is that we’re all artists and we should honour that,” she says.
Waucaush-Warn says she has long felt a calling toward a creative project based on the aunties in her life. “My aunties, who are like my moms and who are a force, also represent love, support and a blunt truth that only an aunty can deliver in a loving way. I have always thought that my aunties represented anti-establishment, antiracism and anti-colonialism.”
The exhibition holds a deep cultural significance to artist and participant Manywounds, a member of the Tsuut’ina Nation. “My involvement in this exhibition is incredibly meaningful to me. While our community is often recognized for its economic achievements, this recognition can sometimes overshadow our rich culture and its history,” she says.
Manywounds’ piece Crawl Home to Her is inspired by the strength of Chief Bullhead’s wife. While Chief Bullhead’s legacy in preserving Tsuut’ina land, language and traditions is well-recognized, Manywounds explains that his wife is a figure whose pivotal role in history has remained largely undocumented. “Her actions changed the course of generations within my community, yet to this day, her name and identity remain undocumented. The exhibition serves to preserve her memory and bring awareness to her legacy — reminding us that she, too, was once an aunty.”
Follett’s contributions centre on the chosen family. “The Euro-Canadian culture that I was born into does not recognize aunties in the same way that other cultures do,” they tell. “But as a young ‘baby queer’ living in Lethbridge, I was fortunate enough to have the mentorship of older queers around me who demonstrated the value of community organizing and collective care.”
Adding to this sentiment, Pérez-Rivera explains “Aunty means a safe space. It means that in that space, you can let your guard down so the heart can speak. This aunty space often comes with hot meals, stories, tears and laughs, and it feels very warm and soft.”
The Aunties/Anti exhibition is an invitation to witness, celebrate and reflect. It is an opportunity to engage with the stories, traditions and lived experiences of aunties from diverse backgrounds, to recognize their contributions and to embrace the notion that to be an auntie, or to be “auntied,” is a privilege and a profound source of connection.
“As a grandmother — a mature aunty — I tell my students ‘know what your gift is and celebrate it,” says Pheasant-Neganigwane. “This is our true celebration.”
Find the exhibition at the East Gate entrance along the south wall.