Pinery Road and Concession 11

In “Pinery Road & Concession 11”, writer, academic and musician Leanne Betasamosake Simpson reflects on the chapter of the same name in Dionne Brand’s A Map to the Door of No Return. By physically traveling to the same corner in rural Ontario that Brand’s car broke down two decades earlier, Simpson considers place, belonging, diaspora, property, and foreclosure in her own Michi Saagiig Nishnaabeg homeland. Simpson’s companion on part of the journey is an 80 year old Black Ash Basket which she repatriates to Curve Lake First Nation on the way. What follows is the text of the piece originally presented at the Map to the Door At 20 gathering. Simpson presented the piece over looped time lapse photography of the journey and surveillance footage of the intersection of Pinery Road & Concession 11. Simpson’s sister, Ansley Simpson provided a soundscape for the piece, repurposed from Leanne’s track “Solidification” (Noopiming Sessions, Giizhiwe Music, 2021). “Pinery Road & Concession 11” is an honour song to Brand’s constellation of thought that has traveled the world, and back to the Burnt River, near Kinmount, Ontario.