Whitemud Walking

Whitemud Walkingis about the land Matthew Weigel was born on and the institutions that occupy that land. It is about the interrelatedness of his own story with that of the colonial history of Canada, which considers the numbered treaties of the North-West to be historical and completed events. But they are eternal agreements that entail complex reciprocity and obligations. The state and archival institutions work together to sequester documents and knowledge in ways that resonate violently in people's lives, including the dispossession and extinguishment of Indigenous title to land.

Using photos, documentsand recordings that are about or involve his ancestors, but are kept in archives, Weigel examines the consequences of this erasure and sequestration. Memories cling to documents and sometimes this palimpsest can be read, other times the margins must be centered to gain a fuller picture.Whitemud Walkingis a genre-bending work of visual and lyric poetry, non-fiction prose, photography, and digital art and design. (From Coach House Books)

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Matthew James Weigel is a Dene and Mtis poet and artist.Whitemud Walkingis his debut collection of poetry. HischapbookIt Was Treaty / It Was Me won the 2020 Vallum Chapbook Award.Weigel's work has appeared in Arc, The Polygot and The Mamawi Project.