The appetite for a deeper understanding of Indigenous cultures is growing across Canada. For some people connecting with one of the oldest cultures in the world is complicated. For others it is mysterious and they hesitate to approach it.
But after speaking with Christine Sokaymoh Frederick of Alberta Aboriginal Performing Arts and producer of the ninth annual Rubaboo Festival, it is apparent that artists across the community are wrapping their arms around the festival and getting close up and personal with their art.
The bulk of Rubaboo (a Métis-Michif word meaning a rich stew), runs from Jan. 31 to Feb. 4 with live theatre, films, a collaborative art project and a photo exhibit.
“I’ve always been passionate about the arts and my Cree heritage,” Frederick said. “I’ve come to understand the effects of the colonial experience, the human rights violations and the cultural violations. When we rebuild our art, we rebuild our culture. It’s integral to who we are.
"As we get closer to political and environmental crisis, we need the knowledge to live with Mother Earth. The elders have secret knowledge. I have seen it first hand, and the change that can happen when you share a culture, when you share an identity.”
Throughout the festival there is a strong theme of personal and collective narrative. Having knowledge of one's roots is fundamental to the human condition, and festival artists explore their past and how it weaves into the present. In each work there is a presence of enduring resilience, a hallmark of Indigenous cultures.
“This was an odd year for Rubaboo with me being away from the festival,” said Frederick, who is in Toronto with Minosis Gathers Hope, a play she wrote that is sweeping up rave reviews and standing ovations.
Although absent from the local scene, other groups such as Mile Zero Dance approached her to showcase The Sash Maker, a collaborative project of dance, poetry and traditional finger-weaving. It was presented Jan. 19 and 20.
“It was a matter of scheduling. They couldn’t present it during the festival, so we just looped them in,” said Frederick.
Another “looped in” project that runs until March 31 at La Cité Francophone is pikiskwe – speak, a collaborative art project between Lana Whiskeyjack’s mixed-media tryptych, Losing My Talk, and Beth Wishart MacKenzie’s documentary film, Lana Gets Her Talk.
In addition, Metro Cinema is screening Rumble: The Indians who rocked the World on Jan. 27. Director Catherine Bainbridge tells the story of a never-before-told chapter of Indigenous influence in American music.
Metro also screens Our People Will Be Healed on Feb. 4. This documentary celebrates how a Cree community in Manitoba was enriched through the power of education.
Bookending the festival are two live theatre productions. For Frederick, Minosis Gathers Hope was a personal and cultural liberation. She wrote, directed and acts in this children's production.
“I had been so long with Alberta Aboriginal Performing Arts, I had put aside my own artistic dreams to the point of where it hurt. It was a moving moment when people asked to see what I was working on.”
Minosis (Cree for kitten) tells the story of a troubled young Métis girl who meets a fairy named Pakoseyimiw (Cree for hope). During their adventures in her grandfather’s backyard, the duo rediscover mythology and legends.
“This spins from how I dealt and how I wish I could have dealt with racism as a child. As we move to a fuller diversity of cultures, it’s important to understand how children grapple with it.”
The second show, produced in cooperation with Punctuate Theatre, is Matthew MacKenzie’s Bears. Written and directed by MacKenzie, it is a dark, unapologetically political play about pipelines.
The main suspect in a workplace accident is Floyd and he’s on the run. Pursued by the RCMP, he heads west through the Rockies to Burnaby along the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain Pipeline. By the time he reaches the Pacific, Floyd has undergone huge personal and physical changes.
Both live theatre productions star Sheldon Elter, one of Alberta’s most versatile and sensitive actors.
Bears runs Feb. 1 to 3 and Minosis is on Feb. 3 and 4 at Backstage Theatre. Tickets range from $5 to $25. Visit [email protected] or call 780-409-1910.
