Nightwood Theatre and Native Performing Arts are collaborating on a digital production based on the findings of the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls report, dubbed “Embodying Power and Place”.
The name is a reference to the MMIWG inquiry’s final report in 2019, which was called “Reclaiming Power and Place”.
Last year, more than a dozen Indigenous artists from various disciplines were commissioned by New Harlem Productions to read and respond to passages from the report, which have been collected digitally for the first time as a multimedia production incorporating sound, text and imagery.
The contributors are Janet Antone, Reneltta Arluk, Tara Beagan, Yolanda Bonnell, Darla Contois, Deborah Courchene, Aria Evans, Eekwol Lindsay Knight, Jessica Lea Fleming, Falen Johnson, Émilie Monnet, Yvette Nolan, Michelle Olson, Natalie Sappier, jaye simpson and Aqua Nibii Waawaaskone.
The performances are free to access, but those who are able are encouraged to donate to Anduhyaun Inc., a charity founded to establish culturally-inclusive safe spaces for Indigenous women and children at various stages in their life; the Native Women’s Association of Canada; and It Starts with Us, a community initiative to honour missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, transgender and Two-Spirited people.
The production is on from now until April 11. You can register at http://embodyingpowerandplace.com.
Jeremy Appel is a Local Journalism Initiative (LJI) reporter for Alberta Native News. The LJI program is funded by the Government of Canada.
