Topic: ARTS

Award-Winning Actress Michelle Thrush in Residence at Trent University

Award-winning Canadian actress Michelle Thrush.

Award-winning Canadian actress Michelle Thrush.

Michelle Thrush, an award-winning Canadian actress who has been working in film, television, and theatre for over twenty-five years and who uses her gift as an actress to promote healing through the arts, will be welcomed to Trent University’s campus this week as she returns to Nogojiwanong (Peterborough) as a performer in residence through the Indigenous Performance Studies program at Trent.

Following her stellar, sold out, performance of Find Your Own Inner Elder during Trent University’s 40th Annual Elders and Traditional Peoples Gathering earlier this year, Ms. Thrush will be a visiting guest artist at Trent, from May 16, 2016 to May 22, 2016. The residency is in partnership with the Indigenous Performance Studies program, the First People’s House of Learning and the department of Indigenous Studies at Trent. It will offer students, and the broader Peterborough community the opportunity to participate in enrichment, and community engagement initiatives.

As part of her stay at Trent, Ms. Thrush will be putting on a free performance on Thursday, May 19 from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. at the Nozhem: First Peoples Performance Space, where she will be talking about the making of “Treaty 7”, which is a performance project with a mandate to promote a greater understanding of history, and the contemporary relevance and cultural history of Treaty 7. Ms.Thrush will also be visiting schools that serve regional First Nations, supporting Indigenous children, youth, students and teachers, and working privately with regional artists, Trent students, and community youth drama groups in Wshkiigimongaki (Curve Lake First Nation) and Peterborough.

Ms. Thrush tours extensively across North America with her one woman shows that she writes, directs, and produces. This includes her well-known performances, Reclaim, Right Next Door and, most recently, Find Your Own Inner Elder. She uses her gift as an actor to promote healing through the arts to explore creative expression. Ms. Thrush is also well known for her community work across the country as a keynote and public speaker. Her work with children, addressing important issues through comedy and performance is what Ms.Thrush enjoys most.

About Trent University

One of Canada’s top universities, Trent University was founded on the ideal of interactive learning that’s personal, purposeful and transformative. Consistently recognized nationally for leadership in teaching, research and student satisfaction, Trent attracts excellent students from across the country and around the world. Here, undergraduate and graduate students connect and collaborate with faculty, staff and their peers through diverse communities that span residential colleges, classrooms, disciplines, hands-on research, co-curricular and community-based activities. Across all disciplines, Trent brings critical, integrative thinking to life every day. Today, Trent’s unique approach to personal development through supportive, collaborative community engagement is in more demand than ever. Students lead the way by co-creating experiences rooted in dialogue, diverse perspectives and collaboration. In a learning environment that builds life-long passion for inclusion, leadership and social change, Trent’s students, alumni, faculty and staff are engaged global citizens who are catalysts in developing sustainable solutions to complex issues. Trent’s Peterborough campus boasts award-winning architecture in a breathtaking natural setting on the banks of the Otonabee River, just 90 minutes from downtown Toronto, while Trent University Durham delivers a distinct mix of programming in the east GTA.

Métis Artist Christi Belcourt

Michif, Metis Artist  Christi Belcourt christibelcourt.com

Michif, Metis Artist
Christi Belcourt christibelcourt.com

“My heart overflows with love for the beauty of this world, The mystery of this planet and this universe is too vast and too powerful to even begin to understand. All I know is that all life, even the rocks, need to be treated with respect.” ~ Christi Belcourt

Christi Belcourt is a Metis artist raised in Ontario. She is the daughter of Indigenous rights leader Tony Belcourt and Judith Pierce Martin. She is well known as a painter but has been practicing traditional arts such as Métis floral beadwork and has merged both art forms in her creations.

Belcourt is inspired by the beauty of the natural world and traditional Indigenous world-views on spirituality and natural medicines. She has written a book Medicine to Help Us that contains centuries old healing traditions of Metis women. Belcourt’s fascination with traditional arts has inspired her to work with beads, hides, clay, copper, wool trade cloth, and most recently birch bark.

Christi Belcourt was named the 2014 Aboriginal Arts Laureate by the Ontario Arts Council and short-listed for the 2014 and 2015 Premier’s Award for Excellence in the Arts. Her works can be seen at the National Gallery of Canada, the Gabriel Dumont Institute, the Art Gallery of Ontario, the Canadian Museum of Civilization. Belcourt was also commissioned to create “Giniigaaniimenaning (Looking Ahead)” to commemorate the resilience and strength of residential school survivors and their descendants. and the historic apology from the Prime Minister. The artwork is a stained glass for permanent exhibit above the main entrance for the members of parliament in Centre Bloc, Parliament Hill.

Christi Belcourt’s own explanation of the stained glass mural: “The story begins in the bottom left corner of the glass, with your eye moving upwards in the left panel to the top window and flowing down the right window to the bottom right corner. The glass design tells a story. It is a story of Aboriginal people, with our ceremonies, languages, and cultural knowledge intact; through the darkness of the residential school era: to an awakening sounded by a drum; an apology that spoke to the heart; hope for reconciliation; transformation and healing through dance, ceremony, languages, and resilience into present day. The title of the piece translated from Ojibway into English means ‘Looking Ahead’ and includes, within the deeper meaning of the word, the idea that everyone is included and we are all looking ahead for the ones unborn.”

Painted drum by Christi Belcourt

Painted drum by Christi Belcourt

In 2012, Christi helped start the Walking With Our Sisters project to honour the lives of murdered Indigenous women in Canada and the United States. The project took flight and has evolved in a seven year touring memorial involving over 1500 artists and thousands of volunteers. Her work has been the focus of two documentary films So Much Depends Upon Who Holds The Shovel directed by Wayne Peltier and A Life in Balance directed by Kathy Browning. She has also written another book Beadwork and co-wrote Jeremy and the Magic Ball. Christi is part of the Onaman Collective along with Erin Konsmo and Isaac Murdoch. All three artists are dedicating their work and lives to social change and justice for Indigenous people. One of their goals is to preserve, recover, and develop traditional art forms—something which is very important to Christi Belcourt.

An example of Christi Belcourt’s beadwork-painting style.

An example of Christi Belcourt’s beadwork-painting style.

Going Home Star: A Heartrending Tribute to Residential School Survivors

The Canadian residential school system operated on a federally sanctioned policy aimed at eradicating First Nations culture. That is the truth. The Royal Winnipeg Ballet’s production of Going Home Star, commissioned with the support of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), is part of reconciliation.

Founded in 1939, the Royal Winnipeg Ballet is Canada’s premier ballet company, under the artistic direction of André Lewis for more than fifteen years. Over a decade ago, Going Home Star was first envisioned by the late Cree elder and activist Mary Richard and André Lewis. Multi-talented Tina Keeper (Cree activist, producer, actress, TRC Honorary Witness, and former MP) later joined as associate producer and soon the company assembled a remarkable team of some of Canada’s top artistic talents, including Giller Prize-winning Canadian author Joseph Boyden, acclaimed choreographer Mark Godden, and Juno Award-winning composer Christos Hatzis.

As a profession, ballet is a relatively exclusive and particular calling. “It is a little bit ironic,” Joseph Boyden admits. “We are taking a very European form and introducing it to a First Nations experience.” The company was aware from the outset that they were taking on a sensitive subject and took measures to collaborate with First Nations in meaningful and imaginative ways. “It was a risky project,” Justice Murray Sinclair, chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, told the Toronto Star, “but I knew something magical could happen, and it did.”

Going Home Star began its nationwide tour this January in Ottawa, concluding with the Vancouver premier April 7-9. Lewis feels this production is his best work since The Ecstasy of Rita Joe (a production Elder Mary Richard loved). He also recognizes the subject matter is difficult, but extremely important. “This chapter in Canadian history needs to be a dialogue in schools,” he said.

RWB Company dancers in Going Home Star, 2014; Photo by Samanta Katz

RWB Company dancers in Going Home Star, 2014; Photo by Samanta Katz

 

“We feel immensely honoured to have been entrusted with this story and to use the ethereal beauty of ballet to further an imperative dialogue around truth and reconciliation,” says Lewis. “Born from a collaboration between some of Canada’s finest creative minds, it is a gorgeously raw, exquisitely honest work whose artistry and message will resonate in the hearts of all Canadians.”

Going Home Star tells the story of Annie, a young First Nations woman adrift in a modern lifestyle of excess until she meets Gordon, a trickster disguised as a homeless man. Scenes shift through time in an otherworldly realm as Annie and Gordon travel the roads of their ancestors, rife with injustice and abuse. They walk together through the past and into the future, helping one another carry the weight of that legacy.

Mark Godden’s choreography is not a “tutu and tiara” ballet. The dance style is contemporary and emphatic, with expressive movements that communicate powerfully raw emotion as well as tender vulnerability. Joseph Boyden says, “Ballet cuts right to the heart of what’s most beautiful physically in humanity and what’s most beautiful in story.” An original score by Christos Hatzis provides a richly-layered soundscape that incorporates spoken word and the voices of Steve Wood and his Northern Cree Singers, along with Polaris Prize-winning Inuk throat singer Tanya Tagaq and the occasional echoes of classical works (Rite of Spring, Swan Lake, Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet).

RWB Company dancers Sophia Lee and Liang Xing in Going Home Star, 2014 performance. Photo by Samanta Katz

RWB Company dancers Sophia Lee and Liang Xing in Going Home Star, 2014 performance. Photo by Samanta Katz

 

The heart of the ballet is cradled in the teachings of the four directions. Annie is South (red), a fiery young urban hairdresser who spends her downtime doing everything her mother warned her against, living fast and going nowhere. Her new found friend Gordon is North (white), a man of winter living hand to mouth on the streets, scooped by social workers as a child and toughened by a life in foster care. Gordon remembers his grandmother’s stories of Nanabush the trickster, and it is Gordon who holds the key to Annie’s awakening.

Niska is West (black), a young woman imprisoned in residential school. Their goal is to break her, but she will not be broken. She comes from a family of healers; her strength is in the earth and the grounding rhythm of the drum. Memories of her family keep her going. Charlie is East (yellow), a child suffering and desperate to find a way home. In Niska, he has a friend and ally, a light in a dark and lonely place. It is significant that the children knew to find the north star, Lewis explains. It’s a small but meaningful detail, knowledge likely to have been shared by their parents, not something they would have learned in the school. “When they escaped from the school, that was the way home.”

Theodore Fontaine, former chief of the Sagkeeng Ojibway First Nation in Manitoba, wrote of his own residential school experiences in a memoir, Broken Circle. He attended the Fort Alexander Indian Residential School for ten years (1948-58) and the Assiniboia Indian Residential School from 1958 to 1960. André Lewis shared that Mr. Fontaine had seen the ballet and felt Going Home Star has helped in his own healing and that it was a positive experience to see this performance.

Thelma Musqua also attended residential school in Manitoba. She spoke at a reconciliation event in Nipawin, Saskatchewan and shared her story in the Nipawin Journal. “My life was turned upside down,” she said. “There were things I believed in that I had to let go. What your parents taught you was demon worship.” Each child at the school was assigned a number and learned how to work. “It was not education at all,” Musqua said.

Her description of the school itself illuminates the metaphor of the schoolhouse on Gordon’s back in Going Home Star. Musqua recalls the cement building was a physically and emotionally cold place. “You had to forget about feeling, loving, forgiving. The sadness, the pain. It was a very cold environment.” Before going to the school, she remembers a warm and safe place with no violence. “We knew when we could play and when we had to sit still. We would always listen. It was very beautiful.”

By the time Thelma Musqua left the school, everything changed. “I had a broken spirit,” she says. “I knew how to work, that was it. I was so ashamed of who I was.” Going to ceremonies and listening to the community elders helped her navigate. She went to a university and became a social worker, but her siblings, who also attended residential schools, were less able to cope. “I leave the past in the past but I never forget,” she said.

The story of Going Home Star isn’t just about the characters onstage. “This is a story of Canada,” says Joseph Boyden. “This is one of our stories that we have for years and decades and centuries refused to face as a nation.” He explains, “For almost 100 years Aboriginal peoples were not allowed to practice their own dance, to speak their own language, to practice their own religions.” Now people are beginning to realize “we not only have to face this story as a nation, but we need to.”

Present History by Candace Curr with a letter to survivors.

Present History by Candace Curr with a letter to the children of residential schools.

RWB Company dancers in Going Home Star, 2014; Photo by Samanta Katz

RWB Company dancers in Going Home Star, 2014; Photo by Samanta Katz

 


I am personally grateful to have attended the premiere of Going Home Star during its tour in Coast Salish Territory. The lobby of Queen Elizabeth Theatre in Vancouver was bustling with activity before the performance. Everywhere you looked, people were engaged. There were information booths and displays of art and carvings. Smudging took place on the patio outside. There was also a lovely little tree decorated with paper stars bearing messages of hope and reconciliation, some written in the languages of the people. Health care workers were also on hand if anyone felt “triggered” by the performance and needed support—an unusual service, but a uniquely compassionate gesture.

The buzz of activity settled only when Tsatsu Stalqayu Coastal Wolf Pack arrived with drums and song, focusing attention and spirit before the ballet began. It was uplifting to hear their singing and drumming again when the performance was over. I turned to exit the aisle and noticed the entire row of people behind me was still wiping away tears from their faces—a humbling, yet comforting, experience of shared emotion.

Watch highlights of Going Home Star online [https://vimeo.com/135976249].

 

Tree of Stars

Tree of Stars

JunoFest Indigenous Showcase Features Buffy Sainte-Marie and All Juno Aboriginal Nominees

When the 2016 Juno Awards came to Treaty-Seven Blackfoot Territory, Tsuu T’ina Nation welcomed all of the inspiring artists to the area with an honouring ceremony during a special JunoFest Indigenous Showcase a few nights before the awards. The legendary Buffy Sainte-Marie stood amongst other Juno-nominated Indigenous artists including Black Bear, Armond Duck Chief, Don Amero, Cris Derksen, and Derek Miller. All of the nominees were invited to perform for their brothers and sisters at the Grey Eagle Events Centre, and it was here that they shared their unyielding passion for their craft and culture.

The night started off with the resonating cultural sounds of Black Bear, an Atikamekw drum group from the community of Manawan, Quebec. Their Juno nominated album Come And Get Your Love: The Tribe Session Powwow indulges in the tribal spirit of their ancestry. The group sang in their native tongue over traditional Atikamekw drumming, bringing the audience into the atmosphere of a powwow.

2016 Juno Aboriginal Album of the Year nominee Armond Duck Chief

2016 Juno Aboriginal Album of the Year nominee Armond Duck Chief

The next act was Armond Duck Chief, a country singer from the Treaty-Seven community of Siksika Nation. “It’s awesome that the Juno’s this year is where I grew up” he told First Nations Drum. “I’m on cloud nine right now, and to just have my name amongst the other Juno nominees—that in and of itself is rewarding. They’re all top notch and have been grinding it out for so long.” Duck Chief performed an acoustic set for the audience, featuring three songs from his Juno nominated album The One. He swept in two awards at the last Indigenous Music Awards for the same album, but had no luck at this years Juno’s. With the expected release of another album in early 2017, it is hoped that Duck Chief will have a chance to rope in an award next year.

Don Amero followed Duck Chief, bringing to the audience his own style of strumming strings to heartfelt ballads. During his uplifting performance, Amero shared music from his Juno nominated album Refine. His album’s theme centres on the removal of toxic impurities in order to create a better sense of self. He spoke to First Nations Drum about how Canada’s community can remove it’s own impurities to create a better tomorrow. “Above all, it is important to have honest relationships with each other,” he says. “Being able to progress is about developing a community and trying to get people to realize that it’s not about government programming. It’s not about saying ‘Hey, here’s some money to help you with your situation.’ It’s about saying ‘I want to walk with you. I want to become a brother. I want to become a cousin. I want to become a friend.’ I think that this is not happening enough, and I think a lot of people in the non-Indigenous community are saying ‘Alright, well we need to fix this problem; I hope the government gets on that.” My mission is to change people’s mind and say ‘It’s not up to the government—It’s up to you.” Although Amero did not win a Juno this year, his vision and voice are vital to have in music.

Next up was half-Cree Albertan musician Cris Derksen, a cellist who captivated the audience with her multi-dimensional performance. She started off with a live improvisation that embraced the acoustics of her cello, creating heavy bevies of beautiful sound by weaving her bow masterfully along its strings. Within her Juno nominated album Orchestral Powwow, Derksen braids traditional powwow singing and drumming together with new-age electronic manipulation, creating unique textures that overlap and culminate in genre-defying arrangements. As for the rest of her performance at the showcase, she decided to share songs that she will be putting onto her upcoming album, including a piece that was written in respect for the missing Indigenous women across Canada. Unlike the other Aboriginal Juno nominees, Derksen was nominated in the category of Instrumental Album of the Year. While she didn’t win the award, she hopes her next album will be nominated for another Juno in 2017.

2016 Juno Aboriginal Album of the Year nominee Derek Miller.

2016 Juno Aboriginal Album of the Year nominee Derek Miller.

Blues guitarist Derek Miller of Six Nations in Ontario hit the stage next, belting out songs from his Juno nominated album Rumble. Receiving a Juno in 2003 and 2008, Miller was well-seasoned in his performance at the showcase. With a band accompany him, he rumbled the auditorium with heavy guitar riffs and rocking blues songs. He even did a cover of “Come And Get Your Love” by Redbone, adding his own flare of grittiness and snarling vocals.

Above all, though, Buffy Sainte-Marie was the standout performing artist of the evening. Accompanied by her band, she sang multiple songs from her Juno nominated album Power In The Blood, as well as many others from her past records including “Darling Don’t Cry,” “Universal Soldier,” and “Little Wheel Spin and Spin.” On Juno award night, Sainte-Marie received not only Aboriginal Album of the Year, but was also recognized for her work’s thought-provoking lyricism and received the award for Songwriter of the Year. During her acceptance of the awards, Sainte-Marie shared a spoken word segment of her lyrics from the closing track on her album Carry It On, which she also shared at the JunoFest showcase.

“Hold your head up,” she said. “Lift the top of your mind, put your eyes on the Earth. Lift your heart to your own home planet–what do you see? What is your attitude? Are you here to improve or damn it? Look right now and you will see, we’re only here by the skin of our teeth as it is, so take heart and take care of your link with life. It ain’t money that makes the world go around, that’s only temporary confusion. It ain’t governments that make people strong, it’s the opposite illusion. Look right now and you will see, they’re only here by the skin of our teeth as it is, so take heart and take care of your link with life… Life is beautiful if you got the sense to take care of your source of perfection. Mother Nature, she’s the daughter of God and the source of all protection. Look right now, and you will see she’s only here by the skin of her teeth as it is, so take heart and take care of your link with life.”

All of these artists exhibit the strength of Canada’s Aboriginal peoples, especially through a shared connection to culture, tradition, Mother Earth, and community. Check out these Juno nominated albums to see how our indigenous culture is being represented in the innovative music of today.

2016 Juno Award winner Buffy Sainte-Marie takes home Contemporary Roots Album of the Year and Aboriginal Album of the Year for _Power In the Blood_.

2016 Juno Award winner Buffy Sainte-Marie takes home Contemporary Roots Album of the Year and Aboriginal Album of the Year for Power In the Blood.

Coastal First Nations Dance Festival Shares Diverse Performance Arts Of Pacific Northwest

damelahamid screenshotThe Coastal First Nations Dance Festival is a weeklong celebration that honours rich cultural traditions through transcendent performance. Presented by Dancers of Damelahamid in partnership with the University of British Columbia’s Museum of Anthropology (MOA), the annual event features a line-up of captivating performances showcasing the vibrant and distinct stories, songs, and dances of Indigenous peoples of the northwest coast.

Headliners this year included two of Canada’s most electrifying young performers: James Jones and Tesha Emarthle. Ontario-based Tesha Emarthle presented a smoke dance, a traditional and dynamic heart-pumping style of war dance featuring lightening-speed footwork. James Jones from Edmonton has performed extensively with pow wow drumming-infused electronic group A Tribe Called Red. He was a 2009 finalist with So You Think You Can Dance Canada and recently performed in the 2015 Pan Am Games. Jones and Emarthle worked together for a series of school performances, introducing K-12 students to the rich history and traditions of First Nations dance and storytelling.

“As we near a decade of festival performance, it’s truly a thrill to witness the evolution of the Coastal First Nations Dance Festival and its vital role in the cultural fabric of Vancouver,” says Festival Artistic Director Margaret Grenier. “Each season, we endeavour to assemble a talented pool of emerging and established performers, which serve as a critical link in strengthening and upholding the rich cultural traditions of Indigenous peoples. We are honoured by the opportunity to share such a diverse and meaningful array of First Nations artistic practices in the grandeur of the Great Hall at MOA.”

Margaret Grenier grew up in a small community, “immersed from a young age in the practice of songs and dances that had been passed down for countless generations.” She explains, “It was through this experience that I entered into a relationship with my ancestral memories. Today, as a traditional Gitxsan dancer, a practice which interweaves many artistic disciplines, I have found a means to make a tangible connection with my ancestral lineage.”

The 2016 festival featured an exclusive preview of Dancers of Damelahamid’s Flicker, an innovative and dramatic performance featuring intricately carved masks. The Gitxsan “people of the river of mists” are part of the coastal group of cultures with distinctive button blanket regalia. Their history of masked dance inspires a compelling performance, celebrating the diversity and depth of Indigenous cultures. According to Gitxsan history, Damelahamid is the original city where the first ancestors were placed on earth from heaven. For countless generations, Gitxsan songs and dances have been performed in the feast hall and played an integral part in defining art and culture. Though banned by the Canadian government for several decades, social change created a new context for the dances to survive by being shared as public performance. The Dancers of Damelahamid transform time and space, bridging the ancient with a living tradition.

Photo courtesy of Dancers of Damelahamid

Photo courtesy of Dancers of Damelahamid

For the past nine years, Dancers of Damelahamid has presented dance groups from the Musqueam, Squamish, Tsleil-Waututh, Kwakwakawakw, Gitxsan, Tsimshian, Nisga’a, Haida, Tagish, and Tlingit First Nations. International performers from as far as Australia and New Zealand have also shared their traditions, connecting the festival with the global community of Indigenous dance.

The Lax Kxeen Traditional Tsimshian Dance Group has travelled the world sharing their unique and authentic song and dance. “We write and sing songs that portray our four clans (Raven, Eagle, Killerwhale, and Wolf) and also milestones in our lives and those of our group members, keeping our culture alive and well. Our songs are powerful and tell the stories of our communities.” Just remember to keep a sharp eye on your shiny things when Raven dances by.

Eagle Dancer Cori Derickson lives her life close to the land and her culture, and dance has helped focus her energy as well as heal her spirit. She is a Suknaquin (Okanagan) interdisciplinary artist and one of the few female Eagle Dancers in North America. “I make art for a purpose,” she says, “to stay connected to who I am as an Indigenous woman expressing my views, educating, acknowledging who I am. When I dance or sing and play the drum, I am praying for our people, our lands, and our future.”

The eagle is a powerful and sacred being connected to both the earth and the spirit world, inspiring traditional and contemporary arts among many North American Indigenous peoples. Eagle feathers often adorn regalia or sacred objects, and during certain dances eagle down is scattered, swirling through the air as the dancers move and falling like a blessing.

Photo courtesy of Dancers of Damelahamid

Photo courtesy of Dancers of Damelahamid

Tradition and language are very much alive among the Northwest Coast peoples. They are being practiced, passed down, and shared. Throughout the week, songs and drums resonated to the rafters, calling to the spirit. We are all related. The peoples’ voices and languages translated in feeling, pitch, tone, and rhythm. Expression and movement told their stories.

Git-Hoan songs and dances are presented with an energetic and proud style that, while different than most contemporary dance groups, is based on ancient traditions that belong to all coastal tribes. Renowned carver and culture bearer David Boxley formed the Git Hoan Dancers to revive, practice, and share the Tsimshian way of life that was once forbidden.

The Dakhká Khwáan Dancers are the most prominent traditional dance group in the Yukon. They work to bring cultural revitalization and social transformation within their communities by reclaiming their culture traditional art forms of song, drumming, dance, and storytelling.

Songs and stories have great value. To hold them is an honour, and they are treasured. Sometimes they are traded or gifted to a performer. The art of performance continues to evolve, though its roots remain deep in traditional culture.

Git Hayetsk Dance Group leaders Mike Dangeli (Nisga’a artist and carver) and his wife Mique’l Dangeli (Tsimshian art historian and curator) make it a priority that the Git Hayetsk (people of the copper shield) sing the songs of their ancestors as well as create new songs, dances, drums, rattles, masks, and regalia to reflect and record their experiences as contemporary First Nations people.

Andrew Grenier, dancer and production manager for Dancers of Damelahamid, dedicated 15 years under the guidance of Damelahamid Elders Ken and Margaret Harris, learning from their stories, songs, dances and teachings. Elder Margaret Harris is a respected Cree Elder from northern Manitoba and wife of the late Chief Kenneth Harris. She was immersed in the traditions of the Gitxsan and founded the Haw yaw hawni naw Festival to revive First Nations arts and culture. Her 40 years of experience teaching Cree and Gitxsan dance and her wealth of traditional knowledge and wisdom is invaluable in guiding the Dancers of Damelahamid.

In 2017, the festival celebrates its 10th anniversary. Given the diversity of amazing talent drawn to the stage, next year’s event promises to be spectacular. Connect with Dancers of Damelahamid at [damelahamid.ca] and on Facebook [www.facebook.com/Damelahamid].

Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet Presents Poignant Tale of Hope and Understanding in Vancouver Premiere of Going Home Star

Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet (RWB) presents the Vancouver premiere of the critically acclaimed and deeply moving classical ballet, Going Home Star – Truth and Reconciliation April 7-9, 2016 at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre. A transformative tale of hope and understanding, this “inspired and inspiring” (CBC) production honours the many stories, both told and untold, experienced by First Nations Residential School survivors and their families.

This heartrending ballet opens important dialogue about truth and reconciliation. “Going Home Star is without question one of the most important productions in the RWB’s 75 year history. We feel immensely honoured to have been entrusted with this story–and to use the ethereal beauty of ballet to further an imperative dialogue around truth and reconciliation,” says André Lewis, RWB Artistic Director. “Born from a collaboration between some of Canada’s finest creative minds, it is a gorgeously raw, exquisitely honest work whose artistry and message will resonate in the hearts of all Canadians.”

#RWBGOINGHOMESTAR RWBallet Instagram

First envisioned more than a decade ago by the late Cree elder and activist Mary Richard and Lewis, this tragic yet hopeful tale was lovingly crafted by a remarkable team of some of Canada’s top artistic talents, including award-winning novelist Joseph Boyden, acclaimed choreographer Mark Godden, renowned composer Christos Hatzis, and features the powerful music of the Polaris prize-winning Inuk throat singer Tanya Tagaq and Steve Wood & the Northern Cree Singers.

The hauntingly poignant and intensely heartfelt ballet tells the story of Annie, a young, urban First Nations woman adrift in a contemporary lifestyle of excess. But when she meets Gordon, a mystical trickster disguised as a homeless man, she’s propelled into an otherworldly realm where the pair travels the roads of their ancestors, rife with injustice and abuse. As they learn to carry one another’s burdens on their journey through the past and towards a hopeful future, both Annie and Gordon learn that without truth there is no reconciliation.

Commissioned by Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet, with the support of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), Going Home Star – Truth and Reconciliation premiered in Winnipeg in October 2014 as part of the RWB’s 75th anniversary season. Receiving widespread acclaim, Going Home Star has become a powerful production that bravely faces the pains and atrocities of Canada’s past, while giving hope for healing and wholeness in our future.

Pre-show Chats will take place prior to each performance from 7 to 7:30pm, in the east wing of the Queen Elizabeth Theatre lobby.

Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet (RWB.org) 

Founded in 1939, Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet holds the double distinction of being Canada’s premier ballet company and the longest continuously operating ballet company in North America. Versatility, technical excellence and a captivating style are the trademarks of Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet, qualities that have garnered both critical and audience acclaim. RWB’s superlative standards keep the Company in demand around the globe as it presents more than 150 performances every season across Canada and in the United States, South America, Europe, the Middle East, Russia, Japan, Asia, and Mexico. Under the artistic direction of André Lewis for more than fifteen years, the Company is said to have never looked more resplendent, more assured, and more ravishing.

PERFORMANCE DETAILS:

Going Home Star – Truth and Reconciliation

April 7-9, 2016, at 8pm

$29 to $89 (plus service fees)

The Queen Elizabeth Theatre 600 Block Hamilton St. Vancouver, BC V6B 2P1

Purchase Tickets Online at Ticketmaster.ca (Vancouver)

Purchase Tickets By Phone at 1-855-985-ARTS (2787)

Mi’kmaw Woman Becomes First Aboriginal Poet Laureate of Halifax

Spoken word artist Rebecca Thomas will become the Halifax Regional Municipality’s sixth Poet Laureate. The municipality’s Poet Laureate serves as an ambassador and advocate for literacy, literature and the arts, and reflects the vitality of our community through appearances and readings of poetry at a number of civic events and other activities.

Rebecca Thomas, new Poet Laureate of Halifax. (Photo Credit: Matthew Madden)

Rebecca Thomas, new Poet Laureate of Halifax. (Photo Credit: Matthew Madden)

“We’re very pleased to appoint Ms. Thomas as our next Poet Laureate, a position which will empower her to enhance our understanding of our region’s unique cultural tapestry through her work,” said Mayor Savage.

Rebecca will serve a two-year term as the municipal Poet Laureate, which will notably coincide with the 100th anniversary of the Halifax Explosion and Canada’s 150th birthday.

Rebecca is the current Halifax Poetry Slam Master and also works as Coordinator of Aboriginal Student Services at the Nova Scotia Community College. Coming from an Indigenous background whose family has been greatly impacted by residential schools, Ms. Thomas has come to recognize the lack of prominence given to First Nations perspectives within the history of Halifax. As a Mi’kmaw woman, she embraces the opportunity to bring her cultural voice to the broader public discussion through the Poet Laureate position, and believes that the arts and poetry can help people heal in ways beyond traditional therapies.

“Poetry can give a voice to the voiceless. Poetry can make a powerless person feel powerful. This is why I speak,” said Ms. Thomas.

Rebecca is also an active supporter of youth engagement through poetry and the arts and has volunteered the past two years with the Halifax Youth Slam Team. Over the last several years she has organized a variety of workshops and poetry series’ with a focus on youth empowerment and diversity education.

Rebecca will officially assume the position of Poet Laureate on April 1, 2016, in time to celebrate National Poetry Month. The naming of the new Poet Laureate will also be marked in late April with a special reading at Regional Council and a public reception. The reception will celebrate the legacy of the outgoing Poet Laureate, El Jones, and introduce Rebecca and her work to the citizens of the municipality.

 

Manitobah Mukluks: Preserving Métis Cultural Expression In Unique Footwear

Growing up in the cold Manitoba winter, Sean McCormick proudly wore his mukluks wherever he walked. A deep appreciation for his Métis culture led him to start designing his own mukluks using hand tanned leather, which he traded for handcrafted footwear from local producers and then sold to local souvenir shops. McCormick eventually started his own business, Manitobah Mukluks [www.manitobah.ca], in 1997. Since then, the company has experienced phenomenal growth, and in 2014, Fortune Magazine designated the company as one of the fastest-growing Canadian Companies.

An array of mukluk creations—the final project for the 2015 graduating students. 

An array of mukluk creations—the final project for the 2015 graduating students.

To set his mukluks apart from others, McCormick hired generations of grandmothers, mothers, and daughters whose Métis traditions influence the unique product designs. In 2013, McCormick went a step further by creating the Storyboot School. Students learn about the Métis culture, establish relationships with elders and artisans, and practice the expression of traditional values. The school has grown and added to the curriculum with more sessions, training workshops, soapstone carving, dream-catcher classes, visual arts, and storytelling, as well as creating a growing digital archive of free instructional online videos and more. This venture will create new generations of mukluk designers and carry on traditions of McCormick’s past among First Nations youth, as well as people from other cultures.

The Storyboot School is a not-for-profit Indigenous arts-based training initiative that works with national and local partners to preserve the traditional art of making mukluks and moccasins. To ensure the Storyboot School has a national presence, eight training partners have come on board: McGill University, University of British Columbia, Carleton University, Bata Shoe Museum, Wabano Cultural Centre, Manitobah Mukluks Board Room, Wanipigow School, and the Community Holistic Circle Healing in Hollow Walter First Nation.

On December 1, 2015, the UBC First Nations House of Learning (in partnership with Manitobah Mukluks) hosted a graduation ceremony for the Manitobah Storyboot School. This year, fifteen graduates received their certificates, and approximately 240 students have completed the program so far.

 

CODE’s 3rd Annual Burt Award for First Nations, Métis, and Inuit Literature: A Literacy Initiative Like No Other

CODE is proud to announce the winners of its 3rd Annual Burt Award for First Nations, Métis, and Inuit Literature and celebrate incredible indigenous authorship benefitting First Nations, Métis, and Inuit youth. The Burt Award was created and is managed by CODE, a Canadian non-profit organization promoting literacy and education for over 55 years, in collaboration and with the generous support of William (Bill) Burt and the Literary Prizes Foundation. This year’s winners, as selected by a jury of Canadian writers administered by the Canada Council for the Arts, are:

2015 Winning Titles

1. Skraelings by Rachel & Sean Qitsualik-Tinsley (published by Inhabit Media)

2. Grey Eyes by Frank Christopher Busch (published by Roseway Publishing)

3. Lightfinder by Aaron Paquette (published by Kegedonce Press)

CODE 2015 Burt Award winning titles.

CODE 2015 Burt Award winning titles.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hundreds of young people, educators, and community leaders came to honour the winning authors at the 2015 awards ceremony hosted in partnership with the University of British Columbia’s Faculty of Education and Indigenous Education Institute of Canada in the UBC Longhouse on October 22nd. The day’s events were emceed by veteran broadcast journalist Shelagh Rogers, host of CBC’s The Next Chapter, and last year’s first prize winner, author of Tilly, Monique Gray Smith. Events included words from Musqueam Elder Larry Grant and performances by Musqueam hip-hop artist Christie Lee Charles.

Addressing the crowd, Jacques Bérubé, Vice-Chair of CODE’s board of directors, remarked on CODE’s approach: “We have long recognized that a very important characteristic of engaging young readers is to provide them with stories that reflect their own culture, their own stories. Stories that have meaning for them. This is what inspired us to introduce the Burt Award for First Nations, Métis, and Inuit Literature.”

Selected by a jury of Canadian writers administered by the Canada Council for the Arts, Mr. and Ms. Qitsualik-Tinsley receive the First Prize of $12,000. Mr. Busch received the Second Prize of $8,000, and Mr. Paquette won Third Prize of $5,000. In addition, publishers of these titles will be awarded a guaranteed purchase of a minimum of 2,500 copies, which will ensure that First Nations, Métis, and Inuit youth across Canada will have access to the books through their schools, libraries, and Friendship Centres. Last year’s winning titles were distributed to almost 900 locations, reaching every province and territory.

“I have no doubt these winning books will appeal to a wide range of readers right across the country, but in particular we’re promoting the books to First Nations, Métis, and Inuit youth” said CODE Executive Director Scott Walter. “Through engaging writing that reflects lived realities and contemporary issues of indigenous youth, we hope to provide the spark to allow more and more youth the chance to discover a love of reading.”

The Burt Award for First Nations, Métis and Inuit Literature aims to provide engaging and culturally-relevant books for young people across Canada by recognizing excellence in English-language literary works for Young Adults by First Nations, Métis and Inuit authors. The Award is the result of a close collaboration with the Assembly of First Nations, the Métis National Council, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, the National Association of Friendship Centres, the Association of Canadian Publishers, the Canada Council for the Arts, GoodMinds, and Frontier College. CODE’s Burt Award is a global readership initiative and is also established in Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania, and the Caribbean.

Go to [www.codecan.org/burt-award-canada] for further details about the Burt Award for First Nations, Métis, and Inuit Literature.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

New Young First Nation Cast Impress In A New Film _Fire Song_

After sitting through a private screening of the movie Fire Song, a film by Adam Garnet Jones, I thought the director captured some realities of life on the reservation, and it’s definitely a movie worth checking out.

The young cast of _Fire Song_. The World Premiere is set for the Toronto International Film Festival. _Fire Song_ is a universal story about youthful dreams confined by reality, set in a remote Aboriginal community. The reserve at Wabigoon Lake Ojibway Nation and Fort William First Nation in Northwestern Ontario provide a vivid backdrop to the daily turmoil of Shane (Andrew Martin), a gay Anishnabe teenager struggling to support his family in the aftermath of his sister’s suicide.

The young cast of _Fire Song_. The World Premiere is set for the Toronto International Film Festival. _Fire Song_ is a universal story about youthful dreams confined by reality, set in a remote Aboriginal community. The reserve at Wabigoon Lake Ojibway Nation and Fort William First Nation in Northwestern Ontario provide a vivid backdrop to the daily turmoil of Shane (Andrew Martin), a gay Anishnabe teenager struggling to support his family in the aftermath of his sister’s suicide.

The movie follows Shane, the lead character played by Andrew Martin, who is struggling with the suicide of his sister Destiny while he supports his mother Jackie, played by Jennifer Podemski. Shane also has to grapple with his personal life, being gay and in the closet, while being in a relationship with his girlfriend Tara, played by Mary Galloway. And if that wasn’t enough, Shane has to deal with hiding his true feelings for boyfriend David, played by Harley Legarde.

The story is set in a remote northern Ontario First Nation, where the community is dealing with the recent suicide of a band member (Destiny), and all the while, Shane is confronted by a series of events that make his decision about attending college a difficult one.

I had the opportunity to talk with Andrew Martin about playing his character and how he approached it. “I drew parallels to my life into the character of Shane,” Martin said. “Shane is gay, living on the rez, and he has to look out at the dangers he faces because of some people’s perceptions. Also a feeling of alienation he feels toward himself.”

This is Andrew Martin’s first lead role in a film where you see him in almost every frame. I asked him how he felt when he got the role, carrying the movie on his character. “I was overwhelmed and had my doubts about doing justice to the character of Shane. What if I couldn’t pull it off? But then I realized they picked me for a reason, and I just went for it.”

Without giving too much away from the film, the toughest scenes Martin said he had to do were with his onscreen boyfriend Harley Legarde. “One particular scene I did with Harley was pretty tough, and I really had to dig deep down and feel what Shane would be feeling in that moment, and that was with the river scene.”

This was also Legarde’s first supporting role in a film. He originally wanted to try out for the lead character, but after reading the script, he decided to audition for the role of David instead. The character David is dealing with his best friend Destiny’s death, and (like Shane) is in the closet and hiding his relationship with his boyfriend. “Some of the location shots were filmed in my community of Fort Williams First Nation, so of course there would be a lot of similarities,” Legarde said. “I think the film really did a great portrayal of youth on First Nations and what they struggle through. Also the struggles of being gay in a small community and coming out.”

Fire Song also stars another up-and-coming actress, Mary Galloway of the Cowichin First Nation, who plays Tara. Galloway received the news she got the role at the same time Martin did on their flight back to Toronto from Thunder Bay, where they had auditions and a one-week actor’s workshop. “I was on the flight back home when they announced on the airplane speakers that Andrew and me got the roles of Shane and Tara,” Galloway said. “So that was exciting, and then we couldn’t share our good news with anyone until they made the official announcement.”

Galloway said she enjoyed filming with the crew and fellow co-stars, but some of the scenes were very intense. The character of Tara goes through her own struggles of not knowing what the real truth is in front of her, as well as her relationship with Shane. “There were some intense scenes with the role of Tara, and I think her vulnerably was what I had to really focus on when I played the role,” Galloway said. “What I really like about Fire Song is that it doesn’t embellish what reservation life is about and keeps really true-to-life.”

This film will introduce moviegoers to a host of new young First Nation actors, as well as other supporting cast members like award winning actress Jennifer Podemski and recording artist Derek Miller. Director Garnet Jones sums it up best: “The film is about Shane trying to have it all—trying to do the best he can in an impossible situation.”

Fire Song premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 13th, 2015. Toronto On-line Film Magazine says, “The first feature film by Adam Garret Jones, Fire Song, works not only as a great example of First Nations cinema in Canada, but also as a teen film that could reach much further with audiences. Never one to shy away from talk of suicide, drug use, and sexuality in frank, bluntly honest detail, Jones expertly depicts one of the most emotionally conflicted period’s in a teenager’s life.”