Steve Madison will be at the Hibulb Cultural Center on Saturday, February 22, at 1 p.m. for our Culture Series event. He will demonstrate Pacific Northwest Native Design.
Steve Madison, Pacific Northwest Native Design at Hibulb, Feb 22
Author: Kim Kalliber
Weekend fun: Geese, treasures, dance, kids snowboarding, more
The Port Susan Snow Goose and Birding Festival is this weekend.
Source: The Herald
Birds on parade: The Port Susan Snow Goose and Birding Festival is Saturday and Sunday in and around Stanwood and Camano Island with free talks, walks, bus tours and activities for kids. Head to the headquarters, 27130 102nd Ave. NW, Stanwood. Get more info in our story here.
Treasure hunt: While you’re in the Stanwood area go hunting for a “clue ball” at the Great Northwest Glass Quest on Saturday and Sunday. Pick up a brochure at A Guilded Gallery, 8700 271st NW, Stanwood, and head out to hunt. If you find one of the plastic balls return it to the location found inside the ball and you’ll receive a limited edition glass art ball. For more info, go here.
A sweet show: “I Love to Dance: A studio performance of original and solo works” will be performed at 7 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday at The Dance School of Everett in the former Betty Spooner ballet studio, upstairs at 2821 Rockefeller Ave. You can see the hourlong performances for a suggested donation of $5 that includes dessert. Call 425-259-6861 to reserve a seat. Get more info in our story here.
Films: The Everett Film Festival is Friday and Saturday at the Everett Performing Arts Center. The festival initially was considered a women’s festival. Though it continues to celebrate the strength, humor and diversity of women through film, it now has a wider view and welcomes men and women to submit their films. Get the details in our story here.
Author: Hear Maria Semple, author of “Where’d You Go Bernadette,” speak at 7 p.m. Sunday at the Everett Performing Arts Center, 2710 Wetmore Ave. The book is an Everett Reads book pick.
Got a clue? Get one in Langley for the 30th annual Mystery Weekend on Saturday and Sunday. The plot? A handsome stranger turns up dead after claiming to be the long-lost heir to a Whidbey estate. Pick up a map and ticket at the Langley Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Center at 208 Anthes St. The Coroner’s Report will be given at 1 p.m. Saturday and the solution will be announced and prizes awarded at 4:30 p.m. Sunday at Langley Middle School’s auditorium. Get more info here.
Symphony for kids: The Cascade Symphony Orchestra’s annual children’s concert, “Paddington Bear’s First Concert,” is at 3 p.m. Saturday at the Edmonds Center for the Arts, 410 Fourth Ave. N. Call 425-275-9595 for tickets. Cellist Stephen Leou, 11, will perform the 1st movement of Haydn’s C Major Cello Concerto. Children also can enjoy the “instrument petting zoo” in the lobby beginning at 2 p.m., where they can test out various instruments.
Author: Bill Dietrich, an author who focuses on environmental issues, will speak about forest concerns at 10 a.m. Saturday at Rockport State Park, 51095 Highway 20, Rockport. The talk will be followed by a guided tour of the park’s trails.
Kids snowboarding: Kids between 3 and 6 years old can try out snowboarding on Saturday and Sunday at Stevens Pass. The boards and the terrain are designed for young kids. Get more info here.
Zeros: The Flying Heritage Collection in Everett will officially open a new display to the public Friday. The collection will have three Japanese Zeros on display. One is in flying condition while two are still undergoing restoration. The museum is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Get more info here.
More planes: Learn about the aviation history of Troy, Ohio, and the Waco Aircraft Company and its history of producing excellent wood and fabric aircraft parts. The talk is from noon to 1:30 p.m. at the Flying Heritage Collection. Get more info here.
Gardening: Learn pruning tips, with a focus on fruit plants and flowering shrubs, from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday at Coldwell Banker Bain’s meeting room, 108 Fifth Ave., Edmonds. The event is presented by the Edmonds Floretum Garden Club. Everyone is invited to attend the event. It’s free, although donations are welcome. Call 425-774-4991 with questions.
Service: Historian and actress Tames Alan will appear in a free program at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Everett Public Library, 2702 Hoyt Ave. Alan will reveal the colorful culture of servants at Edwardian estates like Downton Abbey. Get more info here.
Navy Looks To Renew Permits For Bombing And Sonar Exercises In The Northwest
The U.S. Navy’s aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis transits the Pacific Ocean alongside the oiler USNS Yukon. | credit: Official U.S. Navy Imagery/Specialist 3rd Class Kenneth Abbate
By Ashley Ahearn, KUOW
SEATTLE — The Navy is pursuing permits to continue conducting sonar and explosives exercises in a large area of the Pacific Ocean — and that’s putting marine mammal advocates on high alert.
Public hearings kick off next week as the Navy gathers public comments on its draft environmental impact statement for the Northwest training and testing range. The range stretches from northern California to the Canadian border.
Marine mammals, like porpoises, gray and fin whales and endangered orcas, travel through the Navy’s training range. That’s why marine mammal advocates are voicing concerns about the Navy’s activities.
In the draft EIS the Navy outlined plans to conduct up to 100 mid-range active sonar tests each year. That type of sonar has been shown to affect marine mammal behavior.
The Navy also wants to conduct up to 30 bombing exercises per year in the range.
The Northwest training and testing range. Credit: Navy
John Mosher, Northwest Environmental program manager for the U.S. Pacific Fleet, says the training range is critical to naval preparedness.
“At some point realistic training, whether it’s with explosives or sonar, has to take place and they truly are skills that are perishable, things that have to be routinely conducted to be able to do them in case the real need occurs,” Mosher said.
The Navy gathered more than 300 public comments during an earlier scoping phase of its environmental review. Most of those comments centered around impacts on marine mammals.
The Navy has plans in place to look and listen for marine mammals before and during testing exercises. But environmentalists say the mitigation measures are inadequate.
“They’re dropping bombs and you can’t see orcas from the air,” said Howard Garrett of Orca Network. “There’s every real danger that orcas are going to stray into a live bombing range and we don’t want to see that.”
Brad Hanson
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has been studying the endangered orca population of Puget Sound by tagging orcas and using underwater acoustic monitoring devices to better understand how the whales move through the region. The population of Southern Resident Orcas is hovering around 80 individuals, and has been decreasing in recent years.
Brad Hanson, an expert on orcas with NOAA, says the area within the naval training and testing range is an important forage area for the whales.
“We want to figure out if there are particular areas that the whales are using so the Navy could avoid using those areas for training exercises that might cause any type of harassment of the animals,” he said.
Hanson’s tagging research has shown orcas moving from Washington to northern California within the span of a week.
The body of 3-year-old female Orca L112.
Credit: Cascadia Research
Last year a 3-year-old female orca washed up dead near the mouth of the Columbia River. Her body showed signs of trauma that could have been the result of an explosion but it had been drifting on the Columbia River’s eddies for days, making the results of the necropsy report inconclusive. The official findings were to be released by NOAA Fisheries on Monday.
“It’s probably the most comprehensive necropsy report I’ve ever seen done on a killer whale,” Hanson said.
The Navy also recently announced plans to build a new $15 million dollar facility near Port Angeles, Wash. on the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
What’s Next
Public meetings will be held from 5-8 p.m. for the following dates and locations:
- Feb. 26, 5-8 pm: Oak Harbor High School, Oak Harbor, Wash.
- Feb. 27, Cascade High School, Everett, Wash.
- Feb. 28, North Kitsap High School, Poulsbo, Wash.
- March 3, Astoria High School, Astoria, Ore.
- March 4, Isaac Newton Magnet School, Newport, Ore.
The deadline for written comments on the Northwest Training and Testing range EIS is March 25.
Cedarville Rancheria Shooter Killed Brother, Niece, Nephew: Police
Cedarville Rancheria/Facebook
Cedarville Rancheria Tribal Office building before former chairwoman Sherie Lash, also known as Sherie Rhoades, opened fire and killed three relatives plus another woman on February 20.
Source: Indian Country Today Media Network, 2/21/14
Police are still processing what they called a horrific crime scene at Cedarville Rancheria tribal headquarters near Altura, California, after 44-year-old Sherie Rhoades gunned down her brother, niece and nephew at an eviction hearing.
Four people in all were killed, including the tribal leader, Rhoades’s brother, the Associated Press Reported. Two were critically wounded.
Altura police identified the deceased as Angel Moonstar Penn, 19; Glenn Phillip Calonico, 30; Shelia Lynn Russo, 47, and Rurik Daniel Davis, 50. Russo was not related to Rhoades, AP said.
The two wounded survivors were sisters, the Los Angeles Times reported, and they were flown to hospitals in Redding, about 130 miles away. Altura police said in an e-mailed statement that “as of this morning, one victim was still listed in critical condition and the second was alert and talking.”
Rhoades was taken into custody.
“There are no public safety concerns and we have no information indicating there was any other suspects involved at this time,” the police statement said. “Rhoades was being held at the Modoc County Jail on charges of homicide, attempted murder, child endangerment and brandishing a weapon. She has been moved to an undisclosed facility, for her safety.”
Nearby Alturas Indian Rancheria closed their tribal headquarters on Friday out of respect after the Thursday February 20 shooting.
The carnage began at about 3:30 p.m., according to police and witness accounts, when former tribal chairwoman Sherie Lash, also known as Sherie Rhoades, pulled out a 9-millimeter shotgun during a hearing about the potential eviction of her and her son from tribal lands.
A judge who had been remotely attending the hearing via phone could only listen, KTXL-TV reported.
A witness escaped from the offices and ran down the street, covered in blood, to summon police, KRCR-TV reported. When officers arrived they found the 44-year-old Rhoades outside the building, clutching the butcher knife she had grabbed from the kitchen when she ran out of ammunition.
Police said the investigation is ongoing and that the investigators from the California Department of Justice and the California Highway Patrol Multi-Disciplinary Accident Investigation Team are helping local police process the crime scene. The victims were scheduled to be autopsied on Friday, according to News-10.
“We’re trying to get this thing resolved as quick as possible,” Alturas Police Chief Ken Barnes told News10-TV. “So it’s, it’s a huge impact on our community.”
Read more at http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2014/02/21/cedarville-rancheria-shooter-killed-brother-niece-nephew-police-153686
For Abused Native American Women, New Law Provides A ‘Ray Of Hope’
Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP
By Hansi Lo Wang, from NPR All Things Considered show
This Thursday, three Native American tribes are changing how they administer justice.
For almost four decades, a U.S. Supreme Court ruling has barred tribes from prosecuting non-American Indian defendants. But as part of last year’s re-authorization of the Violence Against Women Act, a new program now allows tribes to try some non-Indian defendants in domestic abuse cases.
It will be another year before the program expands to other eligible federally-recognized tribes around the country in March 2015. But the Department of Justice has selected three tribes to exercise this authority first, including the Pascua Yaqui Tribe of Arizona, the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation in Oregon, and the Tulalip Tribes, located north of Seattle.
‘Going To War’
Deborah Parker serves as the Tulalip Tribes’ vice chair. For three years, she flew back and forth between Washington state and Washington, D.C., giving speeches and knocking on doors — an experience that she says felt like “going to war.”
“You got to go to battle,” Parker says, “and you have to convince a lot of people that native women are worth protecting,”
And that protection, Parker was convinced, had to come from Congress. So she pushed for legislation allowing American Indian tribes to prosecute non-Indian defendants in domestic violence cases.
About four out of every ten women of American Indian or Alaskan Native descent have “experienced rape, physical violence or stalking by an intimate partner,” according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It’s an alarming statistic that Parker knows all too well from growing up on the reservation.
“We didn’t have a strong police presence when I was younger. Even [if you called] the police, often they didn’t respond,” she says. “When they did, they would say, ‘Oh, it’s not our jurisdiction, sorry.’ [And] prosecutors wouldn’t show up.”
A Question Of Jurisdiction
Jurisdiction is the key word in this discussion.
In 1978, the Supreme Court ruled in Oliphant v. Suquamish Indian Tribe that tribal governments have no jurisdiction over crimes committed by non-Native Americans on tribal land.
Instead, tribes have to rely on federal prosecutors to take on such cases, and prosecutors have not always been able or willing to consistently pursue reports of domestic violence.
Deborah Parker and other advocates pushed to address this issue — and some lawmakers in Congress pushed back.
One of the most vocal opponents of the new program was Republican Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa. He voiced his concerns about the constitutionality of the program during a Senate debate last February, weeks before the Violence Against Women Act was reauthorized.
“The key stumbling block to enacting a bill at this time is the provision concerning Indian tribal courts,” Grassley said, referring to a provision that allows American Indian tribal courts to have jurisdiction over non-Indians accused of domestic violence.
Stepping Towards A Solution
But Fred Urbina, chief prosecutor for the Pascua Yaqui Tribe, says the provision that passed is fairly complicated and narrow. “This basically helped it pass through Congress and get approval, so everybody’s describing this as a first step,” he says.
The “special domestic violence criminal jurisdiction” program is limited to certain domestic violence cases involving non-Native American defendants who are in existing relationships with Native Americans and living or working on the reservation. In Alaska, it only applies to the Metlakatla Indian Community of Annette Islands Reserve.
Still, the Pascua Yaqui Tribe’s Attorney General Amanda Sampson Lomayesva says the program will offer a new route for justice.
“It is a ray of hope,” she says “Maybe we can start protecting people and having the tribal members who live here on the reservation feel like something will be done.”
Brent Leonhard, an attorney for the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, also sees the program as a partial solution to “a mess created both by a Supreme Court decision and by federal law and policy.”
“This is a step towards trying to improve that,” he says.
Parker acknowledges that the program “doesn’t answer all the questions” about how tribal governments can play a more direct role in addressing crime by non-Native Americans.
“But it allows us to exert jurisdiction and arrest those who violate protection orders [and commit] dating violence [or] domestic violence,” says Parker, who adds that she hopes the program will give a stronger voice to more Native American women
Shooting at Cedarville Rancheria Tribal Office Leaves 4 Dead, 2 Critically Injured
KRCR-TV
Scene of the fatal shooting of four people at the Cedarville Rancheria Tribal Office and Community Center outside Altura, California on February 20.
Read more at http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2014/02/21/shooting-cedarville-rancheria-tribal-office-leaves-4-dead-2-critically-injured-153670
Source: Indian Country Today Media Network, 2/21/14
Four people are dead, two are critically injured and a woman is in custody after a shooting at the Cedarville Rancheria Tribal Office and Community Center in Alturas, California.
Police say the 44-year-old woman, known as Sherie Lash, or as Sherie Rhoades, opened fire during an eviction hearing at about 3:30 p.m. Pacific time on February 20, Reuters reported. Two women, aged 19 and 45, and two men, 30 and 50, died, and two others were airlifted to hospitals in critical condition. Police told ABC affiliate KRCR-TV that one of the deceased was the current tribal leader.
Rhoades, a former chairwoman of the 35-member federally recognized tribe, was attending a hearing about her potential eviction from tribal lands, the Redding, California, Record Searchlight reported. After shooting the five people, Rhoades allegedly went after a sixth with a butcher knife, police said.
Cedarville is about 15 miles east of Alturas, in northeastern California near the Oregon border.
Check back for updates from ICTMN.
Read more at http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2014/02/21/shooting-cedarville-rancheria-tribal-office-leaves-4-dead-2-critically-injured-153670
Tribes partner to survey forestlands with LIDAR
Source: Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission
The Stillaguamish and Tulalip tribes have partnered with the state Department of Natural Resources and three private timber companies to map forestlands in the Stillaguamish and Skykomish basins.
LIDAR, which stands for Light Distance and Ranging, uses an airborne laser to survey topography.
“The laser pulses from the plane are reflected back to record billions of points of light that measure elevation,” said Derek Marks, Timber/Fish/Wildlife biologist for Tulalip.
Elevation data was collected on working forestlands and a large area of Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest. The result is a high-resolution model that enables natural resources managers to identify resources and potential risks, such as landslides.
“We can save many hours with high-resolution models,” Marks said. “We don’t have to walk the hillside; a forester would have to traverse the area to know where the streams are.”
The new LIDAR surveys covered an area that previously had not been mapped, where the forest canopy covers streams. The models will guide environmental permit reviews for logging and road proposals.
“We’re also reflying the entire North Fork Stillaguamish corridor to compare the data with LIDAR from 2003, to see what’s changed in a 10-year period,” said Scott Rockwell, Timber/Fish/Wildlife biologist for Stillaguamish. Those surveys will cover tribal restoration projects on the North Fork.
“It streamlines management and risk assessment for private industry and state lands,” Rockwell said. “It allows tribes to prioritize and scope restoration projects where we can see obvious habitat potential.”
The surveys were coordinated by the Puget Sound LIDAR Consortium, an informal group of federal and local agencies that acts as a clearinghouse for the high-resolution topographic models, making the data available to the public.
Dream Big for Kids, March 29
Dream Big for Kids
Please save Saturday, March 29, 2014 for a very important event!
Join hundreds of Marysville community members, business leaders, parents, students and school district staff in an educational summit to help design the future for our district and our kids. We need your ideas, your energy, and your voice.
Please invest one Saturday in March to Dream Big for Kids! For more details, call 360-653-0800 or email superintendents_office@msvl.k12.wa.us.
Quinault Denounces State Fish and Wildlife Commission Process
Water 4fish
TAHOLAH, WA (2/18/14)— “I am extremely disappointed that the State Fish and Wildlife Commission has chosen to unilaterally develop a management policy for Grays Harbor salmon,” said Fawn Sharp, President of the Quinault Indian Nation. Her comment referred to a recent news release in which the Commission announced its February 8 approval of a new salmon-management policy to conserve wild salmon runs and clarify catch guidelines for sport and commercial fisheries in the bay.
“As co-managers, the Quinault Nation and State should be working collaboratively and cooperatively to conserve Grays Harbor salmon. Yet the Commission didn’t even bother to meet with us. The Commission’s plan is a stark reminder of the decades-long battles in the federal courts which found that the so-called ‘conservation’ actions of the State of Washington were in fact ‘wise use’ decisions that unlawfully discriminated against treaty fishing. It is inconceivable that today, some 40 years after the decision of Judge Boldt in US v Washington, the Commission would still choose to ignore tribal rights and interests,” said Sharp.
“Quinault Nation has consistently demonstrated leadership in habitat restoration, enhancement and all aspects of good stewardship. The State’s pursuit of fish-killing dams in the Chehalis River and the Commission’s actions reflect continuation of a disturbing pattern. Rather than confronting the major threat to natural fish production in the Grays Harbor Basin, destruction and degradation of habitats, the Commission has chosen to focus on harvest by a small segment of the fishing community. The State also continues to ignore the orders of federal courts. Proper management of Grays Harbor fishery resources requires a comprehensive and cohesive approach developed through collaborative processes at state/tribal, regional and even international levels. By acting on its own, the Commission violated the principles of cooperation and trust and even such agreements as the Centennial Accord. While the Commission’s policy can’t apply to our fisheries, implementation of the Commission’s policy could well set the stage for future conflict and confrontation,” said President Sharp.
Talking Stick 2014: Drama, Dance, and the Electric Powwow in Vancouver
source: fullcircle.ca
A performer on stage at the 2013 Talking Stick Festival in Vancouver, Britich Columbia. The 2014 edition of the fest is now underway.
Alex Jacobs, 2/19/14, ICTMN
Talking Stick, the annual Native arts takeover of Vancouver, BC, is here. For the record, we’ll call it by its full name:
“FULL CIRCLE, First Nations Performance Company, presents the 21st Annual TALKING STICK FESTIVAL.”
That is indeed a mouthful, but you will always need many words, emotions and hand signs to describe what happens every February into March in Vancouver BC, when these First Nations artists and performers stage their events. These are the descriptions but its best to see and hear the actors, poets, musicians and dancers put all their energy, work, love and passion into these performances.
Yesterday, February 18, the festival opened up at The Roundhouse with music, dance, stories, food and drink at Wax hoks Shqalawin (Open Your Hearts). And with that, we were off and running. Here’s a rundown of the happenings you should investigate if you’re in Vancouver from now through March 2:
From Talking Stick to Microphone, Feb 21 at Café Deux Soleils, led by “East Van ghetto poet” Zaccheus Jackson (who has twice represented Vancouver and Western Canada at the Individual World Poetry Slam), this is a selection of this country’s best independent musicians and slam poets going head to head.
A Tribe Called Red
W2 Media, Live Nation & Talking Stick Festival present Salish Coast Live with A Tribe Called Red. ATCR will be performing at Salish Coast LIVE, Feb. 22, with Ostwelve, Mat the Alien, Lido Pimienta, Self Evident, VJs Kinotropy + Heidrogen, and Tsleil-Waututh artists. Buy tickets early as this show will sell out in advance. First Films, New Voices, 3 nights of films and talkback, from the Indigenous Independent Digital Film-making Program at Capilano University, Feb 19, 20, 21. Festival Opening Pow Wow at the Roundhouse, Feb.23.
The following productions have several shows throughout the Festival:
Raven Meets the Monkey King. JJ is an inquisitive 11 year old who dreams of becoming a rich and famous treasure hunter. She buys a mysterious box from a garage sale and inside finds an authentic Raven Mask wrapped in an original Chinese Opera poster depicting the Monkey King. In removing them she inadvertently sets free the spirits of the Raven and the Monkey King, who were trapped in the box for ninety years. These two tricksters share their stories and life lessons with JJ. An exuberant tale of how our lives are transformed by the people we meet, the choices we make and the stories we tell.
In Spirit (formerly Quilchena). In 1978 Monica Jack will be thirteen years old soon and her dad proudly presents her with a new bike. Sharing in his excitement, Monica rides the bike to show her friend who lives only a few houses up the road. Failing to return for dinner, a makeshift search party finds only her bike, tossed into some bushes at the side of highway 5A. For eighteen years, her family and friends imagine Monica into adulthood. This is a haunting journey inside the missing Monica’s experience. This is a story of the tragedy of a peoples systemically abused by an uncaring government, it is also the story of a community who banded together to ensure their missing child is never forgotten. This is a tour de force performance by Sera-Lys McArthur. Director/playwright Tara Beagan and Designer Moro were named in NOW Magazine’s Top Ten Theatre Artists for their work on Quilchena.
For the Pleasure of Seeing Her Again
For the Pleasure of Seeing Her Again. Michel Tremblay’s hilarious and heartrending tribute to his mother; Kevin Loring is the narrator, regaling us with tales about his feisty mother – a born storyteller with a love of exaggeration and invention. Margo Kane, as Nana, exasperates the son she so fiercely loves – yet proves an inspiration for his art. One of the hits of Western Canada Theatre’s 2011-12 Season, critically praised, the piece was invited by the prestigious Magnetic North Theatre Festival to perform in Ottawa in June 2013.
The Hours That Remain , a Gwaandak Theatre production in association with New Harlem Productions. This play explores the story of a woman haunted by the disappearance of her sister. Denise desperately seeks to find answers to Michelle’s disappearance and is visited by her missing sister in a series of visions. In confronting the pervasive reality of missing women in Canada, we are also faced with the legacy of loss endured by families, friends and community.
Convergence
Convergence, on February 26 and 27 at The Roundhouse. Convergence occurs where two strong ocean currents meet, merge, and transform. Propelled by opposing forces, their movement and strength increases as they intersect and coalesce. Two main currents of contemporary aboriginal dance, one more deeply rooted in ancient dance practices and the other more firmly grounded in contemporary dance, are once again reaching a crucial moment of convergence. The momentum of this transformation pushes past boundaries and categorization. It necessitates a deeper understanding of the diversity of contemporary Aboriginal dance. Two evenings examine two main currents of contemporary Aboriginal dance, one more deeply rooted in ancient dance practices share the stage with others more firmly grounded in contemporary dance.
Spirit of Transforming, a new work by Dancers of Damelahamid’s. Opening performance by the Eastern Sky Ambassadors. Spirit of Transforming is the signature new dance work by the Dancers of Damelahamid. It combines the richness and beauty of the tradition of masked dances of the Gitxsan and also explores presenting this genre in a minimalistic way- the very essence of this dance form.
Skins, is a new improvisation based dance work by Rosy Simas (Seneca) which investigates what we hold in our skin. Performed by Rosy Simas and Taja Will from Minneapolis. Over the past 20 years, Simas has created more than 40 original works. In 2013 she was awarded a Native Arts and Culture Foundation Dance Fellowship, and a NEFA National Dance Project award for her new work “We Wait in the Darkness.”
Going To Water: Dancer/Choreographer Maura Garcia (Cherokee/Mattamuskeet) collaborates with others to create genre-spanning art. Themes of social justice, Indigenous identity and the rhythms of the natural world run throughout her creations. Maura will present the solo performance “Going to Water”, which represents the traditional Cherokee ceremony of going to water. It speaks to the rebellious nature of water and of Indigenous people, continuing to make a way despite all obstructions.
NeoIndigenA: Set in a future Indigena with an unbroken continuum of Indigenous knowledge, NeoIndigenA is a ritual journey between Skyworld, Earthworld and Underworld. Santee Smith’s solo performance boldly moves us through sacred pathways of human connection, accompanied by musical collaborators Jesse Zubot, Cris Derksen and Michael Red and featuring elemental voices of Inuit singers Tanya Tagaq and Nelson Tagoona.
Ch’odza (she is dancing)
CH’ODZA (She is Dancing): Raven Spirit Dance, 10 years celebration, Feb 28, The Roundhouse.
“It seems to be, the farther we reach out, the deeper we understand home.” – Michelle Olson
Northern Journey, Choreographer: Michelle Olson, is a contemporary dance performance inspired by the land we carry inside of us. This internal landscape carves out the pathways that lead to our animal instinct and lead us to images that hold our human experience. Inspired by the Porcupine caribou herd and a First Nations traditional story about the caribou, this piece inhabits a place of ice, water, loneliness and transformation.
Spine of the Mother, Choreographer: Starr Muranko, is a collaborative project between contemporary artists in Canada and Peru exploring the relationship between the geography of the Andes Mountain range and traditional and contemporary dance movement in the Americas. “Spine of Mother Earth” is a name given by Indigenous Elders in South America to the Mountain ranges that span from the base in Argentina, through the Americas and end at the tip of Alaska. This column or axis connects the people of the North and the South who have traveled and communicated along this mountain range for thousands of years.
Screening of short-film “A Common Experience”, Based on the play by Yvette Nolan, “Dear Mr. Buchwald”. In 2008 the Government of Canada formally apologized for the treatment of Aboriginal people in the Indian Residential School system. In moving towards healing and reconciliation the government established the “Common Experience Payment”, a program that pays former students for their suffering. It is the story of one applicant, Helen Thundercloud, as told through the eyes of her daughter, Yvette Nolan.
Staged reading from “Red Mother”, Conceived, written and performed by Muriel Miguel of Spiderwoman Theatre – NYC.
Crystal Shawanda
Northern Lights, on Feb 28th at Djavad Mowafaghian World Arts Centre, 149 West Hastings Street , Vancouver. An evening celebrating Northern writers and artists with keynote from Keavy Martin (University of Alberta): readings from Sanaaq, the first novel written in Inuktitut and recently translated into English; and a screening of the short film Amaqqut Nunaat: Country of Wolves. The evening is capped with the delightful antics of Raven’s Radio Hour out of Alaska – a spoof of 40’s style radio shows, which blends traditional Alaska Native stories with song, dance and comedy, written and performed by Ed Bourgeois and Jack Dalton.
The Festival ends with a Crystal Shawanda Concert with Wayne LaVallee opening, March 1 at The Cultch.
You should probably start with on-line auctions and benefits, where you can purchase hotel accommodations, fine dining meals, ski packages, fine art prints, tix to the International Women’s Film Festival, Ballet, Orchestra and there’s always the big Whistler BC Resort vacation package up for grabs. During the Festival, there’s also art exhibits, Pow Wow, short films, panel discussions by First Nations professionals, story-telling, and as always the wrap party to celebrate another year. Go to FullCircle.ca for details and tickets, if you search Talking Stick Festival you will end up there also.
Read more at http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2014/02/19/talking-stick-2014-drama-dance-and-electric-powwow-vancouver-153649