PLAY VISITS TRENCHES WITH ABORIGINAL SOLDIERS
Redpatch examines the forgotten trials of aboriginal soldiers in the Great War
In histories of Canada’s participation in the First World War, First Nations’ contributions have gone largely unheralded. A new play attempts to redress this.
Five years in the making, Redpatch follows a young Métis volunteer soldier from his Vancouver Island home through the trials of training, then to battle — including the turning points at Ypres, the Somme and Vimy Ridge.
The young soldier endures trench warfare and discrimination as a result of his aboriginal heritage.
It’s estimated that close to 4,000 aboriginal men served in the Canadian Forces in the Great War.
Considering their limited civil rights, what might have been their motivation?
“A lot of the cultural practices of these different communities were being effectively stamped out by the government,” said Redpatch co-writer/actor Raes Calvert.
“In a lot of these communities, there is this tradition that’s passed down of families that have warriors in them — what does it mean to be a warrior, how do you prove yourself when your culture is being taken away from you? That is why some of the First Nations soldiers would have joined. On another level, I think that everyone has their own individual reason for joining, which is explored as well.”
Calvert had the initial idea for the play when he saw his co-writer and artistic director of Hardline Productions, Sean Harris Oliver, in a production of Vern Thiessen’s play Vimy. For their project, they researched the history of the war, First Nations cultural practices and the history of aboriginal volunteering and enlistment.
Besides spending hours in libraries, they travelled to remote First Nations communities, including Nootka Island, where Calvert’s ancestors are from, and which their fictional protagonist, Jonathan Woodrow, calls home.
“I would say he (Woodrow) is inspired by my grandfather, who was an aboriginal soldier in the Second World War,” Calvert said.
The world premiere production features an entirely First Nations cast, including Calvert, Reneltta Arluk, Émilie Leclerc, Joel Montgrand, Chelsea Rose Tucker and Deneh Thompson.
“Physical theatre, movement is a very important part of telling this story,” Calvert said. “So in the casting process, we asked people to come in for a movement call. The first audition was only movement. Sean and I both have a background in physical theatre, so we would be able to see who would be good to bring in for the second audition, the standard reading from the text. From the outset, we didn’t say, ‘It’s going to have to be all indigenous actors involved.’ It’s lovely that it worked out that way.”
The production also features original masks by Jenn Stewart and costumes by Christopher David Gauthier. Calvert and Oliver were careful to do their due diligence so as to not misappropriate cultural objects.
“We do use some language, which was OK’d by elders when we went out to visit Nootka Island,” Calvert said. “As far as the design for the masks, yes there are masks in the show. They’re not going to look like your classic First Nations designs from Haida Gwaii. I’d say they’re more fitting to what the war is, an everyman sort of mask.”
The April 7, 8 and 9 performances will mark the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge with three ceremonial presentations before the play. The three-to-five-minute presentations will draw attention to and honour the sacrifice that both First Nations veterans and European-descended veterans made for Canada in the Great War.
Ultimately, Redpatch brings Woodrow, the young Métis soldier, home again. Canadian federal policy extended many postwar benefits to First Nations veterans, but since many had given up their status to enlist, these veterans were denied any benefits upon their return to Canada. But that’s a subject for another play.
“With Redpatch, we’re mostly trying to highlight and celebrate the contribution and demonstrate how effective First Nations soldiers were in that war,” Oliver said.