BIRRA in Canada
Experiences from the Canada tour – focusing on the life behind the performance and the meetings with the land and local communities, written from the perspective of Ingvild, our tour manager.
In February and March 2024, we were on a three week long tour in Turtle Island/Canada with Vástádus eana – The answer is land.
We visited Edmonton (Mile Zero Dance – The Fringe Theatre), Calgary (Springboard Performance – The GRAND), Vancouver (DanceHouse – Vancouver Playhouse), Ottawa (National Arts Centre – Babs Asper Theatre), Peterborough (Public Energy Performing Arts – Market Hall), and Toronto (Harbourfront Center – The Fleck Dance Theatre).
In all of the six cities we arranged different BIRRA activities, and/or were invited to outreach activities to engage with the local community and meet with other indigenous people and artists. We attended dinners, concerts, conversations and participated in traditional ceremonies. Our performers also did singing and dance classes and performance lectures in yoik. After almost every show, our performers did moderated talk backs/Q&A sessions.
Before this tour, we had just finished a two week tour in Sweden, and after the long flight to Canada it was great to start our stay with walking in the fantastic winter scenery in Edmonton. Coincidentally we happened to start our walk through an indigenous art park located in Queen Elizabeth Park.
The park is called înîw (EE-nu) which in Cree means “I am of the Earth”. I imagine you can already see how this resonates with our performance The Answer is land… It was amazing to stumble upon indigenous art and culture as our very first thing, in a public space. We were met with both text, sculptures and other art forms – which all could be connected to the land. The walk through the art park also included breathtaking views of the river valley and downtown Edmonton. Already I somehow felt at home, and that I could breathe here.
I then went to visit the Royal Alberta Museum, where I could nerd a little on dinosaurs and learn about First Nations history.
Yoiks are built by circles. Circles also play a huge part in the choreography of Vástádus eana – The Answer is land.
After our performance in Edmonton they arranged a very welcoming reception for us. There was people from Mile Zero Dance, The Fringe Theatre and local indigenous artists from/living in Edmonton. The night was led by MJ Belcourt, who is a traditional Métis artist. In 2019, MJ served as an Indigenous Artist in Residency with the City of Edmonton. She could talk a lot about her beliefs about blood memory and the genetic connection you can feel to the teachings of our ancestors. It is the idea that we carry ancient memories in our DNA, and she spoke about how this is the reason she is drawn to the traditional arts of her ancestors. Including myself, we are a handful of people in Elle Sofe Company who are reconnecting sámis, meaning we did not grow up around the culture or language but have sámi heritage and finding our way back to it on our own individual journey. So for me, hearing MJ talk, resonated somewhere deep inside.
Elder Jerry Saddleback guided us through our very first smudge ceremony as a group. Smudging is a tradition which is quite common for many First Nations. It involves burning of one or more traditional sacred medicines from the earth. The four sacred medicines are tobacco, sage, cedar and sweetgrass. In the ceremonies we partcicipated in it was mostly sweetgrass. Through our tour we recieved both sweetgrass and tobacco (wrapped in small colorful cotton bags) as gifts from multiple places, from both the audience, presenters, elders, and other people we met. These are spiritual gifts, showing gratitude and respect, or asking for protection and guidance. These are also common gifts to give to Elders.
A smudge ceremony will cleanse the body, mind and spirit. Elder Jerry Saddleback offered us all to participate, and then it is done in silence in turn. By taking in the smoke you cleanse the air around you, your thoughts and your body.I had never done this before, and it was quite a powerful experience.
After Edmonton the tour carried on towards Calgary. Springboard Performance arranged a tipi raising ceremony led by Blackfoot artist and activist Garret C. Smith,. The ceremony was arranged for the company and invited guests from the local community. The tipi is very similar to the sámi lávvu, and we were once again reminded about the similarities between the First Nations and the Sámi, even with the huge geographic distance. Garret’s goal is to educate people about First Nations culture, and he strongly encouraged all of us to ask questions, and he emphasized that all questions were welcome – and how people need to go through the stupid to learn and move forward without racism. Garret dives into a healing form of dialogue about how we can better share the surrounding lands and understand the reality of First Nations trauma within our current society. I believe we sat around the fire inside the tipi for hours.
Outside we listened to the sound installation by Tsuut’ina/Blackfoot artist Seth Cardinal Dodginghorse.
The day before our performance in Calgary we were invited to a dinner which included an artist talk with Garret C. Smith and Sara Marielle. We were at the restaurant Sidewalk Citizen, which has a concept called “Tzatva”, the hebrew word for the act of sitting together. They curate dinners and conversations with voices who need to be understood and heard. They even adapt the menu in honor of their panel and their passion and heritage. We were served traditional First Nations food, which in this case was bison meat, and we shared a table with people we did not know. Some of the people there were of course invited by Springboard performance, but the concept of Sidewalk Citizen is that it is open to whoever wanted to book a table.
The people on my table were really intrigued to listen and to learn about the sámi which they did not know anything about. This was an incredibly interesting event, because it was such a genuine way of connecting with the community through real conversations, and once again this was a place to learn more about the similarities between the indigenous people of Canada and the sámi. We (Sara Marielle and Garret in the panel) talked a lot about forced displacement, assimilation, the Norwegianization of the Sámi and racism. We could, unfortunately, surprise and shock the crowd with how tragic the sámi history is. Most of them had no idea that there were so many resemblances. Garret C. Smith admitted that he too learned a lot this evening, and that he was met with his own prejudices, for example just the fact that he is talking to someone indigenous who is white.
In Vancouver we had a day off, which meant we had time to do some additional sightseeing to get to know Vancouver. We were so lucky to be shown around in the beautiful Stanley Park – which is the traditional territory of multiple coastal Indigenous peoples. We even saw an eagle while we were admiring the Hollow Tree.
We ended our visit in Vancouver with a beautiful ceremony, and a talking circle with lunch. This was facilitated by Margo Kane (Cree-Saulteaux performing artist) and Full Circle: First Nations Performance team. We met other local indigenous dance artists and Elder Waabishki Binesi Ikwe (Sharon) which introduced us to the eagle feather, and its sacred value. The eagle feather was passed through the circle, and we could share any thoughts we wanted while holding this. Surprisingly, this was a very emotional and grounding experience.
In Ottawa we met with a group of indigenous artists through sharing a meal, facilitated by Michelle Yagi, producer and arts leader from the Indigenous Theatre. Our performers also did a yoik session with the other artists while the tech team was doing setup on stage.
One other very memorable event was the dinner we had at the Norwegian Embassy. We are honored and touched to receive such warm welcoming, especially from the ambassador Trine Jøranli Eskedal . They even made sure to celebrate Emma’s birthday with us!
Some of us went to see Frozen – Broadway on tour, which also was performing at National Arts Centre the same week. (We could not miss it – knowing that our composer Frode Fjellheim also is one of the composers of Frozen!)
We began our stay in Peterborough with a wonderful dinner and community connections. Bill Kimball, the artistic director of Public Energy, picked us up by car and we drove somewhere into the woods of Peterborough. We were taken to a charming old wooden house with plenty of soul. The food was inspired by Sámi and Norwegian food. During the dinner there were speeches and artistic performances, and lots of gifts were given – mostly edible. Our team of performers also performed a couple of yoiks for the guests.
After the dinner we sat around the fire inside a tipi located beside the cabin, where we chatted and listened to traditional music performed by Nimkii Osawamick. Nimkii is well known as a singer, Hoop dancer and champion Powwow dancer. He was there with his partner Sarain Fox, who is an activist and filmmaker.
In Toronto we were greeted with a “welcome to territory” ceremony at the theatre. This ritual, performed in most places we visited, wasn’t exclusive done to Elle Sofe Company but it´s a common practice done at public events across Canada and other Indigenous areas. The rituals are done as a land acknowledgment, to honor and acknowledge that you are on native land. Before our performances, a land acknowledgment/welcome to territory ceremony usually took place, and it was done either through spoken words, songs or through drumming.
The way the audience first receives the land acknowledgement, followed by our performers entering and asking for permission to be there, both with their movement and with their words in the yoik, really connects it all in such a nice way.
Photo from Welcome to territory in Calgary. Photo: Darin Gregson
Asking for permission with humbleness
Asking this place permission to be here
Giving a promise to this place and land
To leave it as I found it LOBI BIVDIT Luohtedáhkki/Composer: Sara Marielle Gaup Beaska Dajahusat/Text: Elle Sofe Sara, Sara Marielle Gaup Beaska
In Toronto we had some time off – which we spent exploring the city and spending time with each other. I believe this is also important – to understand the place we are visiting, and to have the time to make social memories with our colleagues. We spoiled ourselves at the end with a typical tourist attraction with a dinner with everyone on top of the CN Tower.
On our very last day we went to visit the students at Centre for Indigenous Theatre. Since this was on our travel day it was very informal and casual. We were shown around, got to know all the students and teachers through a talking circle, while eating lots of pizza.
All of these meetings have meant so much to us, and to me personally. The gatherings are celebrations of shared heritage and they are making bridges between cultures. It really gave us an understanding of the place, the land, we visited. I also learned a lot about myself on this tour. All of these ceremonies and conversations really made an impact on me and resonated. I found myself in overwhelming moments where I suddenly felt more connected to myself, and to my ancestors in a new way. I rediscovered so much more than I thought I would.
I just wish we could approach all places this thoroughly – but more often than not, the tour life is more in and out of the venue and there is rarely time to meet other artists and see other performances. It really gives a deeper meaning to the art, and to the people and the audience, and it makes it memorable. As a group I believe this also brought us closer. Many personal stories were shared, both by the technical team and performers, and I think many saw each other in a new and brighter light.
I am beyond thankful for all of the experiences and conversations, I am sure we have built many lasting bonds through this journey. I am keeping your stories with me.
– Ingvild Kristin Kirkvik, tour manager
Photos in this article by Sean Arceta (Edmonton), Darin Gregson (Calgary), members of Elle Sofe Company and others.
Also note that most of the events, ceremonies and conversations mentioned have not been photographed.
