Talking Stick Festival 2023 launches National Indigenous History Month on the West Coast
Full Circle: First Nations Performance’s month-long celebration features music, film, theatre, visual arts, and more
Summer Sisters Sing: Women’s Music Circle.
TALKING STICK FESTIVAL is returning for its 22nd year, launching on June 1 on the unceded, traditional territories of the Coast Salish Peoples. With the theme of Summer Reverb to highlight the idea of amplified sound and voices, the multidisciplinary celebration of Indigenous arts and culture runs straight through to July 2.
Produced by Full Circle: First Nations Performance, the festival kicks off with the June 1 free, all-ages opening reception following the 7:30 pm showing of The First Métis Man of Odesa at the Cultch Historic Theatre. The party will have traditional Ukrainian dancing, Métis jigging, and fiddle music.
The First Métis Man of Odesa, by Punctuate! Theatre in partnership with Talking Stick, runs through to June 4. Read more in Stir’s feature here.
On June 8 at 7 pm, it’s Michelle Good: Truth Telling About Indigenous Life in Canada at Vancouver Public Library’s Alice MacKay Room. The author will release a new essay collection called Truth Telling: Seven Conversations About Indigenous Life in Canada, which asks non-Indigenous Canadians to reconsider what they think they know about Indigenous life and to confront the human cost of colonialism. Good will join in conversation with journalist Andrea Crossan. There will be a performance by singer songwriter Zofia Rose in the event presented in partnership with Massy Books, Massy Arts, and Vancouver Public Library.
Melawmen Collective.
Talking Stick Festival Summer Reverb Gala, a co-presentation with Woodward’s Cultural Programs, happens on June 9 starting at 7:30 pm at SFU Woodward’s’ Fei and Milton Wong Experimental Theatre. Expect soulful jazz on a grand piano followed by multiple performances, including one by Melawmen Collective, which blends Indigenous music with hip-hop, rock, folk, and more.
On June 18 from 3 pm till late at the Roundhouse Performance Centre, Talking Stick Festival teams up with Queer Arts Festival in celebration of Two-Spirit and Indigiqueer Artists, anchored by three events. Love After the End: Joshua Whitehead & Friends is up first. It grew out of Love After the End: An Anthology of Two-Spirit and Indigiqueer Speculative Fiction, a collection showcasing a number of emerging and established Two-Spirit and Indigiqueer writers, edited and compiled by acclaimed writer Joshua Whitehead. Whitehead joins fellow authors Nathan Adler, jaye simpson, and Nazbah Tom for an afternoon that demonstrates how Queer Indigenous communities can thrive through utopian narratives. The Cinq-à-Sept Reception (5 to 7pm) is a free gathering with a book signing, DJ, and reception. Then at 7 pm, Virago Nation Burlesque performs.
DJ Kookum.
June 20 is DJ Kookum’s Indigenous Day Eve at Performance Works from 9 pm to midnight. Kookum is an open-format DJ and multimedia artist from the Alexis Nakota Sioux Nation and Cold Lake First Nations. Also featured are Indigenous artists Sekawnee and Ms Shellz. The evening will explore the connection between Indigenous traditions and hip hop.
Logan Staats.
June 21 marks National Indigenous Peoples Day, when Talking Stick Festival will offer a mix of ceremony, storytelling, dance, and music, paired with a fashion show. Summer Solstice Celebration with Logan Staats takes place that date from 8 to 11 pm at Performance Works. Staats is a Mohawk singer-songwriter rooted out of the Six Nations of the Grand River. The party promises an Indigenous Day Cabaret. Highlights include a performance by Winnipeg based folk-soul artist ILA, who is of Anishinaabe and settler heritage, while Joleen Mitton’s Supernaturals Modelling will present a fashion show. Métis performing artist, public speaker, and filmmaker Jordan Waunch emcees.
Summer Sisters Sing: Women’s Music Circle on June 23 is a copresentaiton with SFU Woodward's Cultural Programs (at SFU Woodward’s from 2 to 5 pm) in celebration of the unity of music and sisterhood. Indigenous singer-songwriter, activist, and storyteller Pura Fé hosts the gathering, which will honour traditions in a warm, welcoming environment. Fé is of Tuscarora and Taino heritage and is known for her impassioned vocals, slide guitar skill, and songs that merge folk, gospel, and blues traditions.
Pura Fé.
Also on June 23 is West Coast Sounds: Pura Fé & Friends, co-presented by Talking Stick Festival and Vancouver Coastal Jazz & Blues Society. Taking place at Ironworks Studio from 8 pm to midnight, the performance features Christie Lee Charles’ Musqueam-language hip hop, Murray Porter’s soulful keys, Fé’s melodic tunes, and Métis artist Wayne Lavallee Duo’s energy. The night is capped off with a performance by Beaver Thomas Band and Shakti Hayes and will be hosted by Cheri Maracle of Six Nations of the Grand River Territory.
Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World + A Conversation With Pure Fé on June 27 at 6:30 pm is at VIFF Centre, a copresentation with Vancouver International Film Festival. The namesake documentary explores the profound influence of Native American music and musicians on rock and pop. The winner of the Audience Award and Best Canadian Film awards at Hot Docs, the film features references to Jimi Hendrix, Buffy Saint Marie, Robbie Robertson, and other icons. A conversation with Fé, moderated by Doreen Manuel, follows. There will also be a celebratory reception with a performance by M'Girl singers.
RE-FRAME : RE-NAME : RE-MAKE is a collection of three in-person roundtable discussions presented by Talking Stick Festival in partnership with Primary Colours/Couleurs primaires and SFU Woodward’s Cultural Programs taking place on June 27, 28, and 29 from 11 am to 1 pm with lunch provided at 1 pm at SFU Woodward’s’ World Art Centre. The gatherings will look at the evolving Canadian art landscape and how it is affected by social justice movements, digital shifts, and new funding models. Topics include IBPoC artists learning from each other; decolonial approaches in art; representation in cultural and social justice; and lessons for mainstream organizations. Speakers include Meena Natarajan, a playwright, director, and executive and artistic director of Pangea World Theater, an international ensemble space that creates at the intersection of art, equity and social justice; and Dipankar Mukherjee, a a professional director originally from Calcutta, India with a 25-year history of directing who is artistic director of Pangea World Theater.
Lisa Cooke Ravensbergen.
The Seventh Fire takes place from June 27 to July 2 at Lobe Studios in a copresentation with Delinquent Theatre. The immersive audio performance is inspired by ceremony. Drawing from Anishinaabe stories and oral traditions, artist Lisa Cooke Ravensbergen—who is of mixed Ojibwe/Swampy Cree and English/Irish ancestry—will invoke sound and story as the somatic link to ancestral realms. The studio’s 4D Sound System will envelop guests as a tale of two sisters and their grandmother is told, Ravensbergen collaborating with sound designer Mishelle Cuttler.
“As a Māori Pacific Islander producer from Aotearoa, I'm proud to be part of this year’s Talking Stick Festival. This event truly enhances the visibility of Indigenous arts, culture, and narratives. As we navigate beyond COVID-19, we stand on the precipice of a new era. Through the continued sharing and uplifting of our stories, we move towards an unequivocal truth - the future is Indigenous,” Nathan Mudge of Full Circle: First Nations Performance says in a release.
More information is at Full Circle: First Nations Performance.
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