Ghostkeeper
Ahasiw Maskegon-Iskwew
On September 26, 2006, Ahasiw passed away leaving his partner Alain Malo, three brothers Jack Macauley, Garry Hachey, Patrick Hachey and many friends and colleagues to mourn. He was predeceased by his parents Margaret Hachey (nee Macauley) and Laurier Hachey. Ahasiw was a brilliant artist, writer and curator who has greatly influenced the Aboriginal arts community, particularly in the development of web-based media arts. He will be greatly missed by his family, friends and colleagues. Ahasiw did not wish to have a service to mark his passing from this world. Instead, he requested that Alain and his good friend Michelle Brass hold a memorial in a special place close to nature. His wishes will be fulfilled at 2:00 p.m. on October 14, 2006 at King Mountain in Gatineau Park Quebec. For those who would like to attend this special memorial, we will be convening at the parking lot at Promenade de la Gatineau and Rue Gamelin in Gatineau at 1:30 p.m. Flowers most gratefully declined. Friends so wishing may make donations to the AIDS Foundation of Canada.
Tears of grief is the blood of angels being shed
The wound of losing you cuts so deep
Their blood warmly flows out of my eyes
as I imagine you and what you meant to me
My tears are so pure and precious
Salt from my wound teases my lips
that wish to kiss you again on the face
You are gone now but never forgotten
Âhasiw Maskêgon-Iskwêw (1958 - 2006) was a Cree/Métis writer, editor, performance and spoken word artist, video and visual artist, curator and teacher. A graduate of Emily Carr College of Art and Design (now Emily Carr University of Art + Design), Maskêgon-Iskwêw was a participant in the two year Equity Internship Program at the Canada Council for the Arts that included work with the Saskatchewan Indian Federated College, Circle Vision Arts Corporation, and the Aboriginal Film and Video Art Alliance. He then became Program Coordinator and Assistant Editor of the Talking Stick First Nations Arts Magazine and later developed the position of Production Manager for SOIL at Neutral Ground Digital Media Production Suite. He also worked as web editor for the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network. His critical writing has been published in Mix and Fuse Magazine and in the anthology The Multiple and Mutable Subject: Postmodern Subjectivity and the Internet (2002), published by the St. Norbert Arts Centre. His fictional work Cannibals was presented by the Art Gallery of Calgary as part of the Storybook Story project.
In describing rooms he created for CyberPowWow, an Aboriginally Determined Territory in Cyberspace, Âhasiw said, “They form a constellation that attempts to tell one complex story. There is a desire to say things in a more complete way, to leave a legacy.” His work has left everyone who experienced his art or read his words a rich and complex legacy of their own.
A full bio can be found on the home page.