Through song and healing circles, Tla’amin Nation and PRISMA Festival make harmony together
Cyndi Pallen is among the Indigenous artists who will perform alongside the 80-member PRISMA Festival Orchestra in concert at the beach
Cyndi Pallen.
PRISMA Festival (running to June 25) presents PRISMA on the Beach at Willingdon Beach in Powell River on June 18 at 6 pm
CYNDI PALLEN, WHO carries her grandmother’s traditional name, čɩnɛ, is one of the Tla’amin Nation members behind Hɛhɛwšɩn. Meaning “the way forward”, the word describes a growing movement of healing in the community formerly known as the Sliammon First Nation, just north of Powell River on the Sunshine Coast, in the face of devastating and lasting effects of residential schools. Co-founded by Phil Russell (k̓ʷʊnanəm) and elder John Louie (Yahum), the project brings Indigenous and non-Indigenous people together to promote reconciliation in action and to reflect on the history and teachings of the Tla’amin people.
One of the ways that this cross-cultural sharing has unfolded is through the relationship of Tla’amin Nation members like Pallen with artists of the PRISMA Festival. PRISMA stands for Pacific Region International Summer Music Association, and every year, the PRISMA Festival and Academy unites world-renowned guest artists with top international music students for two weeks of musical exploration by the sea. Over the last several years, PRISMA and the Tla’amin Nation have collaborated together formally and informally in different ways, whether Indigenous artists are singing and drumming with PRISMA musicians or whether PRISMA members, like artistic director Arthur Arnold, have taken part in traditional Tla’amin healing circles.
This year, Pallen and Kespahl—the culture and heritage manager for Tla'amin Nation whose English name is Drew Blaney—will lead Tla’amin singers and drummers in a performance with the 80-member PRISMA Festival Orchestra at the fest’s flagship event, PRISMA on the Beach.
While sacred Indigenous songs and western classical music may seem worlds apart, Pallen sees interconnectedness.
“Music is universal, and so is singing,” Pallen says in a Zoom interview alongside Arnold with Stir. “The drummer represents the heartbeat of Mother Earth.
“With all of these students travelling to Powell River, sharing from their homes something they’re very passionate about, combined with the drumming and singing prepared within our Nation, it’s about bringing cultures together,” Pallen says. “It’s a beautiful experience. It’s a journey in itself to be able to bridge relationships.”
Pallen works to practise traditional values and teachings through language, songs, and dance of the Tla’amin people and coordinates an annual multicultural festival called Wuwoom, which means “singing” in the Tla’amin language. A form of storytelling and a way to connect with ancestors, song is one way for the Tla’amin people to learn the language that was on the verge of extinction due to colonization. It was not until 2016 that the Nation was freed from the Indian Act and became self-governing.
At PRISMA on the Beach, Pallen, Blaney, and Tla’amin members will sing, drum, and perform three works: Pallen’s “Welcome Song”, Blaney’s “yiχmɛθoč (Caring Song)”, and Blaney’s “PRISMA 10 Song”. The Indigenous artists will also perform at the June 14 event, Lafayette String Quartet Returns to PRISMA.
“We’re now in the process of teaching the songs so that everybody has an opportunity to participate in what the words mean, to honour the territory and the lands that our people have travelled for years,” Pallen says. “Art has a way of healing people.”
Kespahl (Drew Blaney).
Healing for Indigenous people all across present-day Canada has become even more necessary following the discovery of unmarked graves at residential schools. Arnold says that it has always been crucial for PRISMA to collaborate with the Tla’amin, on whose land the organization operates. Participating in the healing circle, he says, was an honour that proved extremely moving. “It was a very deep and emotional experience for our musicians,” says Arnold, former conductor of the Moscow Symphony Orchestra. “We learned more about their very difficult personal experiences, but in the end it was ‘Let’s move forward. Let’s create harmony together.’”
Harmonies will happen at the seaside concert, with the PRISMA Festival Orchestra performing movements from Mozart’s Symfonia Concertante K. 364 and Piano Concerto No. 20 k. 466 D Minor; Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade; John Williams’s Theme from Schindler’s List; and more. Soloists include Carla Leurs on violin, Hung-Wei Huang on viola, and Edwin Sungpil Kim on piano.
The ongoing collaboration between PRISMA and Tla’amin, Arnold says, is an illustration of how music can unite people in a spirit of respect and joy.
“We learn from each other,” Arnold says. “There is understanding, and we want other people to think, feel, and listen.”
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