It heralds the return of the bustards, or pre-spring, as the natives call it. Nikak tagocniok – The bustards are coming is the title of the first edition of the Aboriginal Living Arts Festival, which takes place this Tuesday at the Gilles-Vigneault theater in Saint-Jérôme.
The bustards, therefore, arrive with a flurry of live arts performances, dance, theater and cultural mediation. Ivanie Aubin-Malo, Wolastoqiwik (or Malecite), and Catherine Dagenais-Savard, Wendate, acted as programming curators.
On the menu is notably sky dancers, Mohawk dancer and choreographer Barbara Diabo and the company A’no: wara Dance Theater. It is a choreography created in tribute to the 76 workers, including 33 Mohawks, who died in the collapse of the Quebec Bridge on August 26, 1907.
“This choreography depicts the reality of the Kahnawake community before and after these events. It also shows the impact that these losses have had on the women and children of the community,” said Barbara Diabo in an interview.
On August 29, 1907 at 5:37 p.m., after four years of construction, the southern part of the bridge collapsed into the St. Lawrence River in just 15 seconds and just 20 minutes before the end of the working day. Twenty thousand tons of steel are crumbling in the river. Seventy-six of the hundred employees who were on the site died in the tragedy.
For Barbara Diabo, it is a family story since her great-grandfather himself died on the Quebec bridge. His father was also one of those steel workers who braved the heights during the construction of metal structures.
“Steel working has been passed down from generation to generation. There is a myth that the Mohawks are not afraid of heights. In reality, they braved their fears. And they were known to be quite competitive,” says the choreographer.
In her choreographies, Barbara Diabo mixes traditional and contemporary influences.
Sensitivity Response
For Émilie Gauvin, assistant to the artistic direction of the Gilles-Vigneault theatre, Nikak tagocniok – The bustards are coming responds to the current sensitivity to First Nations issues. “We have the means to amplify these voices,” she says of the theatre.
“I realized that I didn’t know anything” about the First Nations, she said in an interview. She was also supported by two members of indigenous communities to set up her programming.
“We would like to hold this festival every two years,” she continues. It is aimed at both non-natives and natives. We have extended poles to the communities. »
The festival also presents Mononk Jules, from Wendat Jocelyn Sioui. “He will talk about one of his great-uncles, Jules Sioui, who has been erased from history,” says Catherine Dagenais-Savard.
Jocelyn Sioui, who is also a puppeteer, enters history through that of this uncle, whose political action and influence have been underestimated, according to anthropologist Serge Bouchard. “It’s a good three-hour historical course,” says Catherine Dagenais-Savard. He also uses puppetry to create effects,” she says.
The next generation of musicians will be present at the festival, with a musical blossoming evening designed by Sandrine Masse and Joseph Sarenhes. Back at the theatre, the Innu Omer Saint-Onge offers Utei, a play that delves into the residential school experience.
In addition to cultural mediation workshops, the festival will hold a meeting behind closed doors, with representations from different nations, a kind of “intergenerational and intercommunity summit”, according to Émilie Gauvin, to discuss contemporary issues.
Nikak tagocniok – The bustards are comingGilles-Vigneault theatre, from April 11 to 16.