ICYMI - October 2018 Event Highlights
Top 5 Highlights from Learning from Indigenous Culture and Teachings in the Arts
Participants were treated to insightful and deeply meaningful presentations from:
Lindy Kinoshameg and Allen MacInnis: INDIGENizeUS: From Proposal to Implementation to Impact (Young People’s Theatre)
Nyla Innuksuk: Indigenous Storytelling Through New Media.
1. Lindy spoke of the workshop series that he designed and implemented for the staff of Young People’s Theatre. His 14 workshops are based on the seven Grandfather teachings: Respect, Love, Humility, Truth, Wisdom, Honesty, and Bravery.
2. Lindy and Allen shared the perspective that land acknowledgements can (and should) be more than just reading an official statement at the start of a gathering. The process of creating a land acknowledgement should be a personal journey of reflection and connection to this land as well as it's original caretakers. For those residing in Tkaronto, here’s some reading to incite further discussion in your organization.
3. Lindy and Allen’s presentation ended with two actions. First, all notes that were taken down on post-its (each representing the Seven Grandfather teachings) were attached to a large image of a turtle (see image below). Secondly, the event ended with all participants in a circle to share a social dance and their individual reflections on the morning.
4. Nyla Innuksuk brought her experience in Virtual Reality (VR) to our conference with a focus on telling the traditional and contemporary stories of Indigenous peoples. We learned that VR can be used as a tool for empathy by placing the viewer inside of an experience; often one much different from their own. Bringing cutting edge technology to modern mediums such as music videos, Nyla was able to work with First Nations electronic group, A Tribe Called Red, on the production of a 360° VR Video for their track Indian City Ft. Black Bear. Check out the video here and be sure to experience the full view and sound mixing by dragging your cursor left and right!
5. Nyla challenged us to examine how we tell our own stories and respectfully give voice to others' stories. By bringing simple cameras, computers, and facilitation to Indigenous communities up North, she assists First Nations youth in recording their experiences and fostering their creative voices. She illustrated how important authenticity and representation are to underrepresented peoples, especially their youth. Nyla works hard to rebuild capacity in communities and we are grateful to her for sharing her knowledge. For further learning and discussion, Nyla highly recommended documentaries Angry Inuk (2016) and Tunniit: Retracing the Lines of Inuit Tattoos (2011).
Join us for the next PAONE conference hosted by Mirvish Theatres on January 16, 2019. After attending Come from Away, PAONE members will have a group discussion about school programming led by Denise Anderson, Mirvish Theatre’s Student Outreach and Education Coordinator.
