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Here are excerpts from a couple articles about the designer of Canada's new Fancy Dance coin. -Editor  It’s a hobby for Garrison Garrow, and his efforts are renowned. Garrow, of Akwesasne, designed the new Royal Canadian Mint collector coin ($30), which was unveiled recently at McGill University in Montreal. Garrow, 44, lives in Ottawa, where he’s a photographer and historian. The McGill Reporter newspaper recently told the story of Kanien’keha:ka artist Garrow and the development of the the Royal Canadian Mint’s Fancy Dance coin. The new coin depicting an Indigenous dancer was unveiled as part of McGill’s First People’s House 17th annual Powwow. To read the complete article, see: Here's more from the McGill Reporter article. -Editor  The vividly coloured silver coin depicts the pageantry of the Fancy Dance, a modern Indigenous art form that is a powerful expression of Indigenous pride and heritage.
Fittingly, the unveiling ceremony took place just moments before the opening of First Peoples’ House 17th Annual Pow Wow.
A male dancer dominates the 2-ounce coin’s face, with finely detailed engraving adding a sense of movement and splashes of colour highlighting the intricate nature of his regalia. As the image’s creator Kanien’keha:ka artist Garrison Garrow, explained to the crowd at the unveiling, details of the regalia have been pulled from various Indigenous people’s traditions, from the Thunderbird of the Plains peoples to the Iroquois design on the apron. “It was a difficult challenge to do this design because it is a Fancy Dance and there is a lot of energy in that dance and there is a lot of power,” said Garrow. “I wanted to try and capture some of that in a static image. I hope that I did that.” Mark Miller, Member of Parliament for Ville-Marie—Le Sud-Ouest—Île-des-Sœurs, praised the coin for its craftsmanship but also for its symbolism. “Federal governments banned this type of regalia that people wear so proudly today. It’s being brought back from a very dark place,” said Miller. “Our governments, our people, were complicit in putting it down. Today is but a symbolic gesture – but a very important one – to keep shining the light on the beauty in the traditions that keeps the culture, the language and the lives of people vibrant.” To read the complete article, see:  Wayne Homren, Editor The Numismatic Bibliomania Society is a non-profit organization promoting numismatic literature. See our web site at coinbooks.org. To submit items for publication in The E-Sylum, write to the Editor at this address: whomren@gmail.com To subscribe go to: https://my.binhost.com/lists/listinfo/esylum All Rights Reserved. NBS Home Page Contact the NBS webmaster 
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