Rubaboo Arts Festival notches seventh year

Art is a powerful medicine. That’s the theme of the seventh annual Rubaboo Aboriginal Arts Festival and one that artistic director Christine Sokaymoh Frederick firmly adheres to.

She cites a famous Louis Riel quote. “My people will sleep for 100 years, but when they awake, it will be the artists who give them their spirit back.”

“He was very prescient,” Frederick adds. Prophetic or not, this very quote has spurred a rebirth of aboriginal culture in the past two decades.

Like a phoenix arising from the ashes, aboriginal festivals are now a mainstay across the country giving all Canadians the opportunity to discover native heritage and spirituality.

With the exception of Rubaboo’s debut festival in 2009, Frederick has been actively involved in growing the initial two-day event to a 12-day extravaganza. It opens today and runs until Feb. 6 at the Stanley Milner Library and La CitĂ© Francophone.

Rubaboo’s namesake is a winter stew trappers concocted at the end of the winter season with whatever was at hand. Like the mish-mash of ingredients in the stew that fed the body, the festival is a mĂ©lange of different artists that nourish the soul.

Frederick has programmed a creative mix of arts that combine theatre, film, dance, fusion arts, culinary arts, workshops and a speaker series.

Rubaboo opens with the return of Huff, a Native Earth production that premiered at the festival in 2013. Indigenous award-winning playwright Cliff Cardinal, son of actress Tantoo Cardinal, focuses on an honest, searing exploration of solvent abuse among teenagers.

“This play does not brow beat non-Indigenous people. It’s a look at what affects our youth.”

Huff is particularly timely in view of the La Loche shootings, but Frederick is adamant that the play was not written about any one event. It runs Jan. 27 to 30 at the Stanley Milner Library.

Aboriginal film director Adam Garnet Jones is one of the first to deal with two-spirited people who have both masculine and feminine energies. His award-winning film Fire Song was on the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival Tour and will be screened Feb. 2 at La Cité Francophone.

The story is of an Anishinaabe man who prepares to leave home only to be held back when someone dies. He is forced to choose between staying in his community or exploring the many possibilities of the outside world.

“It’s a vision of what we see for our lives versus being responsible for members of the community.”

Dance night is an assortment of different works that features Sara Riel: The Long Journey. Created by Robin and Edward Poitras for Yvonne Chartrand, Sara Riel is a contemporary dance piece that explores the life of Louis Riel’s sister.

The dance evening also features the work of Arik Pipestem and Skye Demas. It is a one-night event that takes place at La Cité on Feb. 5.

Festival Fusion is a partnership that brings together multi-disciplinary arts created live in collaboration with Indigenous and French artists. Moe Clark, Logan Alexis Dancers, Daniel Gervais and Edmonton’s poet laureate Pierrette Requier to name a few will attend on Feb. 4 at La CitĂ©.

There is also a series of REDx Talks with seven speakers including Frederick on Feb. 3 and a bow-making workshop led by Jerry Saddleback on Feb. 6.

For a complete list of events visit albertaaboriginalarts.com/rubaboo-2016/.