Ka’nikonhrí:yo Gatherings: Alan Corbiere and Katsitsionni Fox

We are pleased to announce the next two speakers for the Ka’nikonhrí:yo Gatherings:

The Ka’nikonhrí:yo Gatherings connects cultural leaders to the Indigenous community in Toronto. Leaders who discuss identity, wellness, language revitalization, traditional arts, ceremony, and history, as well as issues that face our communities such as climate change and the environment, decolonization, reconciliation, and sovereignty. Through monthly presentations, based on each leader’s own distinct nation and culture, the gatherings strengthen, empower, and support our community members. Ka’nikonhrí:yo means to have a good mind in Kanien’kéha (Mohawk).

This Month’s Gathering: 

Anishinaabe Wampum and Treaty Teachings with Alan Ojiig Corbiere. 

Wednesday, April 26, 2017 | 7pm – 9pm
CSI Annex, The Garage, 720 Bathurst St, Toronto
FB Event Page: https://www.facebook.com/events/277082162742712/

Cultural Leader

Alan Ojiig Corbiere, Bne doodem (Ruffed Grouse clan), is an Anishinaabe from M’Chigeeng First Nation on Manitoulin Island.  He was educated on the reserve and then attended the University of Toronto for a Bachelor of Science, he then entered York University and earned his Masters of Environmental Studies.  During his masters studies he focused on Anishinaabe narrative and Anishinaabe language revitalization.  For five years he served as the Executive Director at the Ojibwe Cultural Foundation (OCF) in M’Chigeeng, a position which also encompassed the roles of curator and historian. Currently he is the Anishinaabemowin Revitalization Program Coordinator at Lakeview School, M’Chigeeng First Nation, where he and his team are working on a culturally based second language program that focuses on using Anishinaabe stories to teach language.

Next Month’s Gathering: 

In partnership with imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts we will present the film Ohero:kon – Under the Husk, followed by a Q&A with director and producer Katsitsionni Fox. 

Saturday, May 20, 2017 | 2pm – 4pm
Jackman Hall, AGO, 317 Dundas Street West, Toronto
FB Event Page: https://www.facebook.com/events/140348039831108/

Ohero:kon – Under the Husk

Ohero:kon – Under the Husk” is a documentary following the journey of two Mohawk girls as they take part in their traditional passage rites to becoming Mohawk Women. Kaienkwinehtha and Kasennakohe are childhood friends from traditional families living in the Mohawk Community of Akwesasne that straddles the U.S. / Canada border. They both take part in a four- year adolescent passage rites ceremony called Oheró:kon “Under the Husk” that has been revived in their community. This ceremony challenges them spiritually, mentally, emotionally and physically. It shapes the women they become.

Director and Producer

Katsitsionni Fox, (Writer/Director/Producer) has been making films since 2003 in the Mohawk Territory of Akwesasne, where she resides. Her credits include: Sacredly Stoked, a short drama related to the traditional uses of tobacco. This film was distributed across Ontario and partially funded by Cancer Care Ontario. She has also produced several short films that relate to domestic violence awareness and environmental awareness. Katsitsionni directed and produced the film “Ohero:kon – Under the Husk” a documentary following the journey of two Mohawk girls as they take part in their traditional passage rites to becoming Mohawk Women. Katsitsionni received the Jane Glassco Award for Emerging Filmmaker at the imagineNATIVE Film Fesitival in 2016 as well as the Achievement in Documentary Filmmaking Award at LA Skins Fest in 2016.

imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts

imagineNATIVE is the world’s largest presenter of Indigenous screen content. The organisation is recognised locally, nationally, and internationally for excellence and innovation in programming and as the global centre for Indigenous media arts. imagineNATIVE (legal entity: The Centre for Aboriginal Media) is a registered charity committed to creating a greater understanding of Indigenous peoples and cultures through the presentation of contemporary Indigenous-made media art (film, video, audio and digital media).

Our Final Event in the Kwe Performance Series: Jennifer Kreisberg with Guest Artist, March 30 – 31

 

Join us Friday, March 31, for renowned Tuscarora singer Jennifer Kreisberg.

Jennifer will be accompanied by Derek Miller & Cheri Maracle and the evening will include guest artists Kristi Lane Sinclair and the Hidden River Singers. This concert is part of our final Kwe Performance Series events for the season, and please note that the previously announced performance with Ulali Project has been rescheduled to Fall 2017 .

Performance: Friday, March 31, 8:00pm

Venue: The Conversation Room, The Great Hall, 1087 Queen St W. Toronto

Tickets: Adults $20.00/Elders, Students, Underemployed & Art Workers $10.00

On March 30, at the University of Toronto, Jennifer will present a free workshop at the Faculty of Music with discussions about traditional and modern Tuscarora life. She will perform and discuss hand drum songs, invite participants to join in, and answer questions.

Free Workshop: Thursday, March 30, 10:00am – 12:00pm

Venue: Faculty of Music, University of Toronto, Edward Johnson Building – Room 330, 80 Queen’s Park Crescent Toronto

For more info: events@nwia.ca

Join the Facebook Event Page:

https://www.facebook.com/events/1938035886427179/

Artist Bios:

Jennifer Kreisberg

Mother, Singer, Composer, Producer, Teacher, and Activist: Jennifer Kreisberg (Tuscarora, North Carolina) comes from four generations of Seven Singing Sisters through the maternal line and has been singing since she was young. She is known for her fierce vocals and soaring range. Her lilting, breath-taking harmonies will delight your ears.

Jennifer has been singing with the critically acclaimed Native women’s trio Ulali since she was seventeen. Her voice has perfectly woven the high strand of Ulali’s renowned harmony with incomparable skill, and grace for over seventeen years, helping to create a new sound in Indian Country. Adding to the group, her sharp wit and stage presence infused Ulali’s shows with strong vocals, humor and camaraderie with the audience.

Jennifer was a Master Teaching Artist for the State of Connecticut Commission on the Arts for over four years. She is frequently called upon to guest lecture and conduct vocal workshops at universities, schools, Native communities and at festivals throughout the United States and Canada. She has done background vocals for various groups and voice-overs for commercials some of which feature her own compositions and highlight her production skills.

Derek Miller

Guitarist and singer/songwriter Derek Miller is a journeyman musician with eclectic taste and a knack for blues-inflected roots rock. Born on the Six Nations of the Grand River, Mohawk Territory, in Canada in 1974, Miller became interested in music in his early teens, and by the late ’90s had not only toured with iconic Canadian vocalist Buffy Sainte-Marie, but had also won a Canadian Aboriginal Music Award. In 2000 he performed on and co-produced Keith Secola & the Wild Band’s album Fingermonkey. Then, in 2002 he released his debut album, Music Is the Medicine, for which he garnered a Juno Award. Extensive touring followed his debut success, and by 2005 Miller found himself exhausted and struggling with drug and alcohol dependency. Subsequently, he entered rehab and spent the next year or so working to regain his physical, mental, and spiritual health. In 2007 he released his sophomore effort, The Dirty Looks.

Cheri Maracle

Cheri Maracle is a multi- award nominated Singer and Actress from the Six Nations of the Grand River Territory, Ontario. Cheri has been performing in Canada, the U.S. and Europe in the last 20 years, and has extensive music, theatre, television & film credits to her name. Cheri’s early music influences began in Women’s traditional hand drum group Tiyoweh. She then penned two original music albums, Closer To Home (2006), and If I Am Water (2013), to critical acclaim.

Kirsti Lane Sinclair

Fierce and feisty, Haida/Cree singer-songwriter Kristi Lane Sinclair is emblematic of a new wave of Canadian indigenous artists who are turning perceptions upside down. Raised in British Columbia’s backwaters, and drawing more from a DIY/indie aesthetic than traditional or mainstream music, Sinclair’s musical roots create a darkly intoxicating mix of grunge, folk and classical. Her smoky folk is rich and orchestral, underpinned with alternately snarling guitars and warm strings. Watch her six-part documentary series airing on APTN, Face the Music follows Kristi’s journey as she releases and tours her latest album.  Her latest “sonic acoustic” and forth album, The Ability to Judge Distance, will see a summer 2017 release.

Hidden River Singers

Michelle St. John, Rose Stella and Shandra Spears from the Hidden River Singers are some of Toronto’s best and most innovative Indigenous women singers, songwriters, actors and arts activists. They first came together during the Idle No More protests and sang to honour the life and memory of the late Misty Upham for imagineNATIVE film and media art festival 2014. They opened the “Strong Women, Strong Voices” event at the Aboriginal Pavilion during the Pan Am Games, and performed at “Maadaaizi Summer Journeys.”  They have been featured at book launches for Charlie Angus, Leanne Simpson and Pam Palmater, and have performed at opening ceremonies for a number of special women’s events.  Most recently, Hidden River Singers recently performed as part of the “Honouring our Families” event for the Toronto Central Regional Cancer Program.

The Kwe Performance Series is the evolution of NWIA’s long-standing Catalyst Series. Under the new name and with new direction, the Kwe Performance Series presents performances and workshops by performing artists from diverse nations and communities. The events always take place both in Toronto and in varying on-reserve and underserviced communities in arts in Ontario.

Miigwetch to all who made it out to the sold out performance for the Inuit Showcase at the Music Gallery with Kathleen Ivaluarjuk Merritt, Taqralik Partridge, and Nukariik! And to our second event in partnership with the Feminist Art Conference (FAC) at OCAD University, Sadie Buck and the Hey He Yays!

Ka’nikonhrí:yo Gatherings: A new series

Native Women in the Arts is pleased to announce the Ka’nikonhrí:yo Gatherings: A new series starting with a hand drum making workshop on March 5, 2017.

The Ka’nikonhrí:yo Gatherings will connect cultural leaders to the Indigenous community in Toronto and will strengthen, empower, and support our community members through monthly lectures, discussions, and workshops. As an Indigenous arts and cultural organization, we are dedicated to supporting our community by offering programming that is rich in cultural content and that contributes to the process of reclaiming culture.

In the Ka’nikonhrí:yo Gatherings, we will present leaders who can discuss identity, wellness, language revitalization, traditional arts, ceremony, and history, as well as issues that face our communities such as climate change and the environment, decolonization, reconciliation, and sovereignty. These discussions will be through teachings within an Indigenous context, and based on each leader’s own distinct nation and culture.  Ka’nikonhrí:yo means to have a good mind in Kanien’kéha (Mohawk).

We are pleased to present the first three speakers in the series:

  • Hand Drum Making with Clayton Samuel King, March 2017
  • Wampum and Treaties with Alan Corbiere, April 2017
  • Under the Husk Film and Rights of Passage with Katsitsionni Fox, May 2017

Clayton Samuel King “Waab-Shki-Makoons” will present a hand drum making workshop at the Centre for Social Innovation, with discussions about traditional and modern Anishinaabe life. He will guide each participant as they create their own hand drum,discuss Anishinaabe teachings sounding the drum, and answer questions.

Workshop: Sunday, March 5, 12-5pm
Centre for Social Innovation, 4th Floor – Innovation Lab, 215 Spadina Ave, Toronto
For more info:
events@nwia.ca

Clayton Samuel King “Waab-Shki-Makoons” is a professional artist who graduated in April 2010 with a Fine Art Advanced Diploma from Fanshawe College in London, Ontario. Clayton has painted predominantly with acrylics, but works with other mediums like photography, sculpture, graphite, traditional First Nation’s crafts, and he also performs as a Northern Traditional Pow Wow Dancer. He has displayed his art in four solo exhibitions and 22 selected group exhibitions since his studies. Clayton contributes in the education sector in Simcoe County by doing First Nations painting and cultural interpretive workshops that help bridge an understanding of First Nations art and history to native and non-native students alike. Born and raised in St.Catharines, Ontario, Clayton has been a resident of Barrie, Ontario, since the fall of 2011. He has also run his business White Bear Art since that time as well. Clayton Samuel King is of Potawatomi descent and is a member of Beausoleil First Nation.

 

Our second Kwe Performance Series event: Sadie Buck, January 20-21

Following the first sold-out event of our Kwe Performance Series in November, 2016, Native Women in the Arts is pleased to announce the second showcase in the series Sadie Buck with the Hey He Yays.

Join us Saturday January 21, as we partner with the Feminist Art Conference (FAC) to present renowned Haudenosaunee singer Sadie Buck with guests artists the Hey He Yays, followed by a Q&A with Sadie and NWIA’s Artist Producer Erika Iserhoff.

Performance: Saturday, January 21, 6:30pm
Auditorium – Room 230 at OCAD University, 100 McCaul Street, Toronto
PWYC (or included in FAC conference registration)

Join the Facebook event!

On January 20, at Sadie will present a free workshop at Native Women’s Resource Centre of Toronto with discussions about traditional and modern Haudenosaunee life. She will perform and discuss Haudenosaunee singing and songs, invite participants to join in, and answer questions.

Free Workshop: Friday, January 20, 2pm – 4pm
Native Women’s Resource Centre of Toronto, 191 Gerrard St E, Toronto
For more info: events@nwia.ca

Artist Bio:

Sadie Buck was born into a long line of traditional singers and dancers. Her life as a traditional singer has honed her training and performance skill to a master level. Sadie has taken her traditional training ideology and transposed that to her contemporary life as an artist, performer, facilitator, director, author, trainer, researcher and consultant. Sadie is also the lead singer of the Six Nations Women Singers, one of the most influential female Native singing groups. They have recorded with Robbie Robertson and performed at the Presidential inauguration in 1997. Representing the Onkwehonwe people, she is from the Seneca nation of Six Nations of the Grand River Territory and Tonawanda Seneca. Currently a part-time instructor at UWO and sessional instructor at McMaster University, she has also taught at Harvard University, Hamilton College, University of Toronto and at the National Aboriginal and Islanders Skills Development Corporation in Australia. Sadie Buck established and ran the Aboriginal Women’s Music Program at the Banff Centre for three years where she organized and co-led the JUNO nominated recording, “Hearts of the Nations”. The success of this program brought together Aboriginal women from all over the world to collaborate together, sing and perform. Sadie also wrote and co-directed the celebrated Aboriginal dance opera “Bones”. Honoured for her significant contributions to Ontario’s folk music community, Sadie was the recipient of the Estelle Klein Award in 2015.

The Kwe Performance Series is the evolution of NWIA’s long-standing Catalyst Series. Under the new name and with new direction, the Kwe Performance Series presents performances and workshops by performing artists from diverse nations and communities. The events always take place both in Toronto and in varying on-reserve and underserviced communities in arts in Ontario.

About Feminist Art Conference:

This year is the Feminist Art Conference’s 4th conference to be held at OCADU from January 9 – 21, 2017. This includes a two-week multi-disciplinary exhibition in the Great Hall at OCADU and satellite exhibitions at York University and University of Toronto.

About the Native Women’s Resource Centre of Toronto:

The Native Women’s Resource Centre of Toronto began when a dedicated group of Aboriginal women recognized the need for a gathering place in Toronto where Aboriginal women could share resources, support one another, and practice their traditional ways. Today, NWRCT provides a safe and welcoming environment for all Aboriginal women and their children in the Greater Toronto Area.

All the events of our Kwe Performance Series Inuit Showcase

ᐊᐃ : The first event of our new Kwe Performance Series is in fact a number of events! Check out our workshops and performances with spoken word artist Taqralik Partridge, throat singer, poet, and songwriter Kathleen Ivaluarjuk Merritt (aka IVA), and sisters and throat singing duo Nukariik. This list is updated as of October 24:

Thursday November 3 – Spoken word, writing workshop and performance by Taqralik Partridge  In partnership with the Kinomaagaye Gaamik Lodge, 6:30-9:30pm, 674 New Credit Road, Mississaugas of New Credit First Nation, Ontario. Free! Join the Facebook event.

Thursday November 3 – Throat singing workshop with Nukariik – A co-presentation with The Toronto Music Gallery,  6:30-8:30pm,197 John Street, Toronto. Free! But registration is limited. Please sign up in advance here.

Friday November 4 – Throat singing workshop with IVA & Agaaqtoq – In partnership Native Women’s Resource Centre, 2-4pm, 191 Gerrard Street East, Toronto. Free! For more information contact: volunteer@nwrct.ca

Friday November 4 – Spoken word & writing workshop with Taqralik Partridge – In partnership with Toronto’s Inuit youth community group Torontomiutajugut, 7-9pm, 180 Shaw Street, Centre for Indigenous Theatre – Studio 209 (2nd Floor), Toronto, Free! For more information contact: events@nwia.ca

Saturday November 5 – Inuit Showcase: IVA, Taqralik Partridge, and Nukariik – A co-presentation with The Toronto Music Gallery
Doors 7pm, Show 8pm, 197 John Street, Toronto, Tickets $20 Regular | $10 Members/Students |$15 Advance.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zs_WpMPRtgg

Kathleen Ivaluarjuk Merritt also known as IVA (ee-vah) will take you on a journey through the Arctic with vocal interpretations of the wind, birds, landscape and sea. Iva is a throat-singer, poet, writer and collaborator from Rankin Inlet, Nunavut. She has performed alongside Tanya Tagaq, Susan Aglukark, Owen Pallett, DJ Spooky, Mike Stevens and the NAC Orchestra among others.

Taqralik Partridge is a spoken word performer, throat singer, voice actor and writer originally from Kuujjuaq, Nunavik in Northern Quebec. She has performed on stages from Toronto to Iqaluit to the UK and Norway. She teaches poetry and story-telling workshops for children and adults, and she loves to sew.

Nukariik is a group of two sisters, Karin and Kathy Kettler, who work together to preserve and share Inuit culture from Canada. Their heritage is from Kangiqsualujjuaq, Nunavik. While the members of Nukariik have lived most of their lives in southern Canada, they have developed a strong connection to their heritage and culture through their Inuit friends, Elders and family.