OPERA OBSTACLES
Indigenous opera singer Marion Newman appears in Cenerentola with Pacific Victoria Opera. Few First Nations singers venture into the field But when they do, they face challenges not only about Art But Also about identity.
Ahkamayimo Linklater likes to sing opera to herself in her room at home — sometimes just for fun, other times to practise for concerts.
The quiet setting is appropriate, perhaps, for someone who often feels alone as she pursues her passion.
She’s had the chance to work with other singers and perform at a few events around the city, but she’s never had a regular teacher for more than a few weeks. In a city where more than 10 per cent of the total population self-identifies as Indigenous or Metis, Linklater doesn’t know another Indigenous singer performing opera.
“Sometimes it’s hard if it’s only me,” said the 17-year-old, whose favourite tune is Giacomo Puccini’s ‘O mio babbino caro,’ though she loves most Italian opera she hears.
Within the Indigenous community, Linklater said there isn’t much respect — or many opportunities — for her operatic singing when people assume her talents should be focused on more “traditional” performing. For those outside the Indigenous community, common stereotypes of Indigenous performers don’t include opera singers.
“When I get a show, and there’s no Indigenous people there … they’re sort of surprised I’m doing this,” she said. “There’s still that stigma of Indigenous people living in teepees … that’s really hard to deal with.”
Her experiences as a young singer are emblematic of an issue surrounding opera and the performing arts today: a lack of interest, opportunity, and representation for Indigenous people on Canada’s professional stage.
THE INDIGENOUS ‘LENS’
Professional opera singer Marion Newman remembers the first time someone told her she’d have a more successful music career if she didn’t tell anyone she was Indigenous.
“This person — very, very well meaning — in her well-meaning way, she said, ‘Maybe you don’t want that in your bio. People have an impression of what, of who, First Nations people are, and their work ethic … You could easily pass for Italian.’ She thought that being Indigenous might cut off some of my chances.”
Now one of Canada’s most accomplished opera singers, Newman proudly wears her Indigenous heritage, of the Kwagiulth and Stó:lo First Nations in British Columbia.
Breaking into the sphere of professional performing artist is not a simple task by itself, and in Newman’s experience it was made more challenging by racial stereotypes.
She said the current climate for Indigenous performers is “pretty amazing,” but added that it’s a recent development in the performing world.
“If I didn’t say I was Indigenous, and people just assumed I was Portuguese or Italian, they wouldn’t think twice about casting me in just about anything,” Newman said. “But as soon as they hear I’m Indigenous, they see me through a different lens.”
This person — very, very well meaning — in her well-meaning way, she said, ‘Maybe you don’t want that in your bio. People have an impression of what, of who, First Nations people are’ … Marion Newman
Even for performers like Newman who make a name for themselves professionally, there is the challenge of non-Indigenous people creating Indigenous works with no consultation.
Newman pointed to a recent incident in Canada involving composer Robert Lepage and his work entitled Kanata.
The production was about Canada’s settler history and drew a large backlash from the Indigenous community both in and outside the arts for a lack of consultation and Indigenous presence in the show. It was eventually scrapped. “It was supposed to be a story about Indigenous people but had no Indigenous input,” she said.
“So there are definitely some people out there with old ways of thinking, who assume they know better.”
Despite such incidents, there are people who are working hard to “do it right,” Newman said.
“These are people who are emotionally there, and have found a way to understand — and that is so empowering and inspiring. Everything they do involves true consultation and respect … I really hope that people continue to look to them for ways of engaging, and what I think reconciliation might truly be.”
THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE STEREOTYPES
Newman is slated to be involved in an original opera telling the story of Shawnadithit, a woman considered to be the last of the Beothuk people from what is now Newfoundland. It’s another show that started from the mind of a white man — composer Dean Burry — but Newman said it’s done in the “right way.”
Burry has consulted with experts and Indigenous people in Newfoundland and Labrador, and brought on Saskatchewan playwright and dramatist Yvette Nolan to write the libretto.
Nolan was born to an Irish father and an Algonquin mother, and has identified as Indigenous for her whole life.
Like Newman, she was told early on she didn’t need to embrace her heritage to succeed.
“I’ve been told many times … I can just ‘pass’ as a white person, I don’t have to claim my Indigenous heritage,” Nolan said. “Which is racism at its very core.”
Nolan said she was pleased to be invited to write the Shawnadithit libretto, since there have been too many instances of Indigenous stories being told by “other people” in the theatre.
When other people are left to tell Indigenous stories, Nolan said that can lead to gross misunderstandings and misrepresentations of Indigenous peoples in Canada and a limiting of opportunities for performers.
“We joke about it in rehearsals halls and say, ‘How many of you have played a woman that’s been killed?’ And all the women raise their hand,” Nolan said.
“Unless it’s a prostitute or a drug addict or a residential school survivor, they’re not considered for the role.”
Growing up in Winnipeg and aspiring to get into the performing world, Nolan didn’t have many role models to aspire to — at least none who reflected her identity.
“A lot of artists my age … will talk about the first time they saw work by Indigenous people and how inspiring it was,” Nolan said. “I think we have way more ways of telling the story (now).”
According to data from Statistics Canada, fewer than 3.8 per cent of the Indigenous workforce is employed in the arts and culture sector. It’s a similar percentage to the non-Indigenous workforce (3.9 per cent), but it means a significantly smaller number of Indigenous artists competing for space with other performers in Canada.
For Nolan, there’s a logical explanation: Indigenous people have been fighting a very different battle for years.
“For the longest time … the Assembly of First Nations didn’t have an arts and culture policy because they were busy talking about water and survival,” Nolan said. “If you spend a lot of time just surviving, which has been the state of a lot of First Nations in this country … that part will atrophy.”
Nolan agreed with Newman that the current climate for Indigenous theatrical artists is better today, and that opera and traditional storytelling have more in common than people realize.
Nolan said non-Indigenous people could still be partners in telling Indigenous stories but stressed that people have to “work together” to make an impact.
“As many people as we can bring into that discussion, the more hope of success and solidarity we have,” Nolan said.
‘THE PARTICULAR OPERA CHALLENGE’
Ian Cusson, a composer of Metis descent and the current Carrefour composer-in-residence with the National Arts Centre Orchestra, said the discussions surrounding representation exist within the music as well as the librettos.
Cusson said he’s experienced comment and criticism from both inside and outside the Indigenous community regarding his work. Some say he goes too far in adding Indigenous elements to his songs and others say he doesn’t go far enough.
“It usually takes the form of, ‘Oh, I just heard what you wrote … it doesn’t sound very Indigenous,’ ” Cusson said.
“There’s an expectation from some … that Indigenous will sound or look a certain way. And when it doesn’t kind of conform to a picture that’s the expectation … there’s a kind of confusion."
Cusson said a greater “proliferation of voices” was occurring in the world of “Western art music” in Canada, which includes opera and other music styles.
Speaking generally, he said there are three types of stories: missing and murdered Indigenous women, residential schools, and what he describes as “folkloric stories.”
Echoing Yvette Nolan, he said those first two categories lead to seeing many Indigenous people assaulted or murdered onstage — especially if the production is helmed by non-Indigenous creators.
“I think that’s the question for moving forward, is what kinds of stories do we put onstage, and how can they be Indigenous-led projects?” he said.
Until there is a concerted effort to correct barriers of access and opportunity for aspiring Indigenous artists, the same issues are going to continue to arise: The number of Indigenous composers, writers and performers in the professional sphere can’t sustain the desire for the stories to be told, Cusson said.
He added jokingly that there simply aren’t enough Marion Newmans in the world to fill all the roles at a high level of opera.
“This is a particular consideration in the opera world that it isn’t in the theatre world,” Cusson said. “The theatre world has more history in the Indigenous community … so that’s the particular opera challenge.”
And in the end, Cusson said Indigenous creators have to face an unfortunate reality: Either get comfortable with non-Indigenous performers stepping into Indigenous roles, or accept that there aren’t enough performers right now to cast big Indigenous shows professionally.
“We either have to accept that and produce all these wonderful Indigenous operas now, or not produce Indigenous operas. If we’re waiting for a cast of 15 professional (Indigenous) opera singers to sing on a major stage … I think it would be challenging to find big-name performers. Opera companies need to have big names that are a draw to the audience, especially for a new opera.”
Cusson said he knows his opinion will be “controversial,” and stressed that he doesn’t think it’s the best solution — but it could be the only one if these stories are going to be told on stage and through music, calling it “the dilemma we face in 2018.”
“The ideal is the long-term solution, which is access, opportunity training … get more Marion Newmans,” he said.
‘WE TELL OUR STORIES WITH SONGS’
Before she headed back to school at the end of the summer, Ahkamayimo Linklater said she didn’t have any performances lined up for the early autumn months.
Her mother, Teedly Linklater, said she loves listening to her sing, and sees a lot of similarities between Indigenous performance and operatic performance.
“It’s the same thing — they tell stories when they sing,” she said. “When we sing, we tell stories with our songs.”
That sentiment is echoed by Newman, Nolan and Cusson: Similarities in beautiful and spectacular storytelling that connect Indigenous traditions and the opera art form. Ahkamayimo Linklater loves it.
“The emotion that I’m exuding out — my feelings about all the pressure that was put on me and my people — it’s like my therapy,” she said.
Linklater is looking for professional lessons again, but unsure where that will lead.
She’s aiming at becoming a psychologist, so she can eventually become a counsellor for Indigenous youth. Singing as a profession is still a big maybe for her.
No matter what else happens, she won’t stop singing opera anytime soon.
“It feels like I’m pushing barriers,” she said.
“It feels like I’m changing the stereotypes against Indigenous people. It feels amazing.”
ForthE longEst timE…thE AssEmBly of First NAtions DiDn’t hAvE An Arts AnD CulturE poliCy BECAusE thEy wErE Busy tAlking ABout wAtEr AnD survivAl.