Indigenous artists in spotlight at NAC
Festival highlights the magic of Indigenous culture
The National Arts Centre is kicking off its inaugural season of Indigenous Theatre with a festival that will see artists take over every stage in the venerable institution.
From Sept. 11-29, the Mòshkamo Indigenous Arts Festival will celebrate the diversity of Indigenous culture, showcasing music, dance, theatre, art, cuisine and more. The theme is reflected in the name — Mòshkamo is an Anishinaabe word, gifted by Algonquin elders from Kitigan Zibi, that describes the act of appearing out of water and invites others to bear witness to its arrival.
It's a fitting metaphor, says NAC marketing officer Amy Ede, who has been re-embracing her own Indigenous heritage in recent years. She was born in her father's community, K'atl'odeeche First Nation, near Hay River, N.W.T., and grew up with her mother in the south.
“These arts have always been here, but they were suppressed by law under the Indian Act, and there's still a lot of mystery and misunderstanding,” she said. “Now it's like they're jumping out of the water, and anyone can see and appreciate their incredible magic.”
To help you navigate the blossoming culture, here are seven highlights of the festival.
THE UNNATURAL AND ACCIDENTAL WOMEN
Sept. 11-21,
Babs Asper Theatre, NAC
The first in-house production by the NAC's newest department revives a compelling tale by Metis-Dene playwright Marie Clements. Set in Vancouver's gritty Downtown Eastside, the play tells the story of an Indigenous woman's search for her missing mother, only to discover the spirits of the many other women who met a similar fate. According to artistic director Kevin Loring, it's the first full-scale production on a major stage for the almost 20-year-old play that's based on a true story. To complete the circle, it's directed by Brooklyn-based Indigenous theatre artist Muriel Miguel, who played the missing mom in a production staged in Vancouver in 2000.
WHERE THE BLOOD MIXES
Sept. 13-18, Azrieli Studio, NAC
Set during the salmon run on B.C.'s Fraser River, this play earned its writer, artistic director Kevin Loring, the 2009 Governor General's literary award for drama. It's a story about dispossession and survival that explores the traumatic legacy of Canada's residential school system through the experiences of two flawed characters. The production is a collaboration between Montreal theatre companies Menuentakuan and Teesri Duniya Theatre, and it will be performed in English and French, with the French translation by Charles Bender. The French show runs from Sept. 1315, while the English version is set for Sept. 16-18.
GRAND ENTRY
10 a.m. Sept. 14, Rideau Canal
In a practice adapted from powwow tradition, the Grand Entry marks the symbolic launch of the festival. Instead of parading through the streets, though, participants will paddle to the National Arts Centre in a procession of canoes. About 60 Indigenous people from the region's unceded Algonquin territory are expected to take to the Rideau Canal, starting at Patterson Creek at 10 a.m. When they arrive at the NAC at 11 a.m., there will be a welcoming ceremony, followed by a community feast prepared by the NAC's executive chef, Kenton Leier, in collaboration with resident chef Rich Francis of Six Nations and Seventh Fire Hospitality Group. Everyone is invited to watch the canoes and join the 12:15 p.m. feast in the NAC's Canada Room.
BUFFY SAINTE-MARIE
8 p.m. Sept. 15,
Southam Hall, NAC
The legendary singer-songwriter was born on the Piapot Plains Cree First Nation Reserve in Saskatchewan's Qu'Appelle Valley, but grew up in the Boston area with adoptive parents. She was drawn to music in her teenage years, taught herself to play guitar and piano, and made waves with her influential 1964 debut album, It's My Way, which included the powerful protest songs, Universal Soldier and Now That the Buffalo's Gone. That release led to five decades of creativity, as she carved out a career that touches on music, art, education and social and environmental activism. Now 78, Sainte-Marie continues to be a vital musical force, as you can hear on her 2015 Polaris-winning album, Power in the Blood, and its 2017 followup, Medicine Songs.
NORTHERN ADVENTURES WITH SUSAN AGLUKARK
2:30 p.m. Sept. 21-22.
Southam Hall
With her 1995 song, O Siem, singer-songwriter Susan Aglukark became the first Inuk performer to crack the Top 10 singles chart, and the first to win a Juno Award. Now, as part of Mòshkamo, the country folk-pop songstress not only plays a headlining concert with the NAC Orchestra on Sept. 20, but is also part of the orchestra's Northern Adventures family program. Along with Ottawa-based throat-singing duo Silla and the Inuk-Metis couple, Twin Flames, Aglukark will guide families on a musical journey to the North. The show is aimed at children ages five to 12. Interactive pre-concert activities take place 45 minutes before curtain time.
JEREMY DUTCHER
8 p.m. Sept. 25,
Babs Asper Theatre
When it comes to reclaiming an Indigenous language, few artists have done so with more creativity and vision than Jeremy Dutcher. The classically trained operatic tenor won last year's Polaris Prize for his beautiful, haunting album, Wolastoqiyik Lintuwakonawa, which reimagines the traditional songs of his Wolastoq-speaking ancestors — found on 110-year-old field recordings stored in the Canadian Museum of History — amid a soundscape of electronic and classical textures that's like nothing you've ever heard before. The concert is already sold out.
DANCERS OF DAMELAHAMID
8 p.m. Sept. 26-28,
Azrieli Studio, NAC
Choreographer Margaret Grenier grew up in a small community on the Northwest Coast of B.C., immersed in a culture that had survived generations. Now as artistic director of the Indigenous company, Dancers of Damelahamid, she strives to develop the potential of her ancestors' dance traditions, most recently in the new show, Mînowin, which links the coastal landscape with a contemporary perspective of Indigenous dance though a combination of music, movement, narration and new media. The NAC engagement, co-presented by the NAC Dance department, marks the world premiere of the piece.