Celebration of Nations: Indigenous Arts, Music and Culture Festival

Celebration of Nations: Indigenous Arts, Music and Culture Festival

By David DeRocco

An indigenous event called CELEBRATION OF NATIONS doesn’t quite live up to the name if one of the major groups that should be involved is missing. Thankfully, year two of the indigenous art and cultural event scheduled September 7 through 9 at First Ontario Performing Arts Centre will see the inclusion of a group noticeable absent from last year’s inaugural celebration.

When representatives from First Nations and Metis groups shared their sacred fire at last year’s inaugural Celebration of Nations indigenous arts gathering, it marked the first time such a thing had happened in nearly 200 years. Now, those two groups will be welcoming the representatives of Canada’s Inuit community to ensure presence of all three major Canadian indigenous groups at the festival

“This year we have the Inuit coming down and putting together a program to educate people about the Inuit,” said Michele-Elise Burnett, Artistic Director for the Celebration of Nations event. “They’ll be talking about resiliency, about their struggles in the north and being in the south, through dance, drama and throat singing.”

The inclusion of Inuit art and educational content completes the vision Burnett and her fellow event organizers have had since first launching the festival last year.

“This is an extremely exciting line up,” said Burnett, a “The program has been curated in such a way that it is fulfilling all of the visions I’ve had over the past few years of what I’ve really wanted to see. I have never been so excited about watching a program unfold like this. Everything is falling into place.”

Targeting both indigenous and non-indigenous communities with programming that includes music, art, seminars, interactive workshops and more, the Celebration of Nations is designed with the spirit of reconciliation in mind. Burnett says the primary purpose of the event is to educate and inform.

“The key goal is to bring all the nations together to share our unique and diverse culture, traditions and heritage, and to work with each other and learn from each other. It’s so important that we come together and unify through friendship, respect and honour with a good mind and a good heart. If we continue to be divided that’s not healthy. That’s the goal of Celebration of Nations, to educate through the arts but also to heal through the arts.”

 With healing in mind and laughter being the best medicine, this year’s Celebration of Nations will kick off with a night of comedy featuring Howie Miller, an indigenous artist who has been featured at both the Winnipeg Comedy Festival and Just for Laughs Montreal. Three days of art, workshops including building a birch bark canoe, live music and film are all part of the festival, as is the addition in 2018 of food and craft vendors. Organizers are hoping to build on the success of last year’s inaugural event, which saw thousands of people pour into the downtown event.

“You never know when you do your first year how things are going to go, especially when it’s an all-indigenous event, directed and produced by indigenous people,” said Burnett. “We didn’t know how it was going to be received in the community. But it was very heart-warming after the event, as people reached out via phone calls, emails and Facebook saying it was one of the most wonderful experiences they’ve had. We just thought we’re going to keep doing this!”

Celebration of Nations is part of a long-term vision of Kakekalanicks Indigenous Arts & Consultancy, the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre, and the City of St. Catharines to build on the Two Row Wampum teaching that promotes all Nations walking together, in parallel, with respect, compassion, and understanding to cultivate an inclusive community for our shared future. 

OTHER HIGHLIGHTS:

  • Headlining performances from American Roots/Blues powerhouse Martha Redbone, one of Canada’s top stand-up comedians, Howie Miller, a powerful dance performance from Santee Smith called The Mush Hole – that acknowledges the lives and spirits of Mohawk Institute residential school survivors and a spirited dance/electronic set from award-winning DJ and producer, Classic Roots.
  • The Backyard (Mann Raceway Plaza + Lancaster, Brooks & Welch Pathway) - a free space behind the PAC that will feature a Métis Encampment, teachings, workshops, a sacred fire, artisans and Indigenous food and music all weekend long.
  • A Free Interactive Workshop Series that includes opportunities to learn about and create dream catchers, two row wampum bracelets, Metis sashes and mini Algonquin-style birch bark canoes.
  • The Film Series – includes Before the Streets, the debut from Chloe Leriche which is the first feature film shot in the Atikamekw varietal of the Algonquian language Cree, Birth of A Family explores four siblings and their shared experience after the sixties scoop and a FREE Short Film Series will be presented by The Weengushk Film Institute.

For a full schedule of events, performances, seminars and workshops, visit: http://www.celebrationofnations.ca/.