And now:Ish <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: VIA: LISN The Toronto Star June 10, 1999 Festival gives a voice to Indian culture: Artists and musicians descend on Toronto for inauguralm event http://www.thestar.ca/thestar/editorial/whats_on/990609ENT01_WO-COVER10.html =========================================== A new festival of musicians, artists, dancers, actors and writers ensures Indian culture will be seen and heard =========================================== Festival gives a voice to Indian culture Artists and musicians descend on Toronto for inaugural event By Sara Jean Green Toronto Star Staff Reporter Guided by the vision of thousands of buffalo thundering through Toronto, Gary Farmer's eyes light up at the mention of the Aboriginal Voices Festival. First Nations musicians, dancers, authors, actors, comedians, artists, filmmakers and media from across Turtle Island (North America) will converge next week on this city, aptly named ``the meeting place'' by its original Ojibway inhabitants. Beginning Wednesday at Harbourfront, the festival runs until June 21, which is National Aboriginal Day as well as the summer solstice - a time for peace and prayer not only for First Nations, but for people around the world. To mark the day and cap off the festival, the Buffalo Jump Peace March - led by the Unity Riders, a group of spiritual leaders on horseback who travel across the continent promoting peace and solidarity - will wend its way from Nathan Phillips Square to the Harbourfront Centre. ``I'm a real bad planner,'' Farmer admits, sipping a latte in a coffee shop on Spadina Ave., down the street from the office of Aboriginal Voices magazine, which he founded six years ago. ``What happens is I have an idea, but it takes time to flesh out. It always costs money and puts people in a panic,'' he says, laughing. Adding that the festival hasn't secured a major corporate sponsor, Farmer says it's going to be a challenge to get it off the ground on a shoe-string budget of $150,000 generated through fundraising. ``Our airfare alone (for the artists and acts) is $40,000,'' he says. A bear of a man dressed in a frayed gray T-shirt, baggy pants and sneakers, Farmer doesn't look the part of an impresario. But perusing the line-up of talent he's assembled from all over Indian country, it's clear Farmer's goal is to spark ``a spiritualand cultural awakening'' among aboriginals and non-aboriginals alike. Last year, Farmer organized a much smaller festival, ``but no one came,'' he says. To attract larger crowds this time around, most concerts, literary readings, plays and art exhibits will be free, although there'll be minimal fees for the films. ``Our people have come into their own - there's no doubt about it - but now, we have to build an audience . . . because our voice isn't being heard,'' he says, noting that, with some exceptions, aboriginal artists remain largely unknown outside their communities. Lucie Idlout, a rising-star Inuk rocker - who is being courted by American and German record labels - says making art and music is something First Peoples have always done. Although the 26-year-old from Iqaluit, the capital of Nunavut territory, doesn't want to highlight her cultural background above her status as performer, she admits her songs are about her experiences and things going on in her community. ``I do write about things like suicide and spousal assault,'' she says on the phone from Ottawa, where she's practising with her band for the festival before a summer-long tour takes her across Canada and the United States. ``I'm not feeling sorry for myself or trying to bring down my people,'' she says about her music. ``It's more about feeling safe enough and being honest enough to talk about it.'' Incorporating both traditional and contemporary sounds, the music component of the festival is truly eclectic, including Ulali, a women's a cappella group performing Southeast American and pre-Columbian music, as well as Anishnabe nation musicians Keith Secola and the Wild Band of Indians,Arizona's Burning Sky (who, with four CDs out, are gaining international recognition for their Native funk sound) and Navajo-Ute jazz/r 'n' b/salsa flutist R. Carlos Nakai. Sudbury-based rock band No Reservations will perform along with Six Nations blues rocker Derek Miller. World champion drummers the Red Bull Singers will accompany some of the best dancers on the continent, including Boye Ladd and Manitoulin Island's Daybreak Dance Troupe. Standup comedian Gerry ``The Bear'' Barrett, Buddy Big Mountain, the first nationally recognized Indian ventriloquist, and the Debajehmujig Theatre Group are a small sampling of the acts Farmer is bringing to town. A Cayuga Indian and member of the Wolf Clan, Farmer began an acting career in 1976. Since then, he's played a prominent role in the entertainment industry - writing, directing and producing films, TV programs and documentaries - and has worked to raise the profile of aboriginal people. And time is long overdue for Toronto - dubbed Canada's largest Indian rez because more Indians live here than anywhere else - to celebrate the contributions of First Peoples. ``When you go to Vancouver, you get a sense of the people, the culture, immediately,'' says Farmer. ``In Toronto, we're invisible - it's like we don't exist here.'' Along with the Aboriginal Voices magazine, Farmer has been instrumental in establishing the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network, set to hit the airwaves Sept. 1, and he's pushing for a national Indian radio network. ``Radio is the answer to empowerment and being able to do our own stories . . . And there's so many stories,'' he says. People who can't make the festival can still tune in to JUMP! FM 106.3, which will broadcast festival news, live simulcasts and interviews 24 hours a day. Noting that ``our story hasn't been a happy one,'' Farmer says Indians are the only ones who can address issues like sex abuse, alcoholism and residential schools within their communities. And media is the key to that discussion, and ultimately, to healing. That's why a media conference, called Telling Our Story, will coincide with the arts festival, bringing together aboriginal journalists to discuss accessibility to media. The conference's keynote speaker is filmmaker Alanis Obomsawin, who is being honoured with a special tribute for her 25-year-long career documenting the struggles of First Nations people in Canada. Invoking the spirit of the buffalo - a traditional symbol of leadership and responsibility - the festival is all about bringing people together to celebrate their relationships with each other and with Mother Earth. ``Never has peace been more necessary - things are pretty dismal out there,'' says Farmer. ``And it's time to really get down to the business of our spiritual awareness and understanding of that.'' For a more detailed listing of festival events: http://www.thestar.ca/thestar/editorial/whats_on/990609ENT08_WO-ABORIG-LI.html * Telling OUR Story * ABORIGINAL MEDIA CONFERENCE JUNE 16/17/18, 1999 TORONTO This conference is part of ABORIGINAL VOICES FESTIVAL of entertainment and culture: June 16 - 21 in Toronto! Conference: University of Toronto Campus Festival: Harbourfront Centre For Updates and More Information on the Media Conference, go to: http://www.aboriginalvoices.com/fest99/conf_sched.html Reprinted under the fair use http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html doctrine of international copyright law. &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& Tsonkwadiyonrat (We are ONE Spirit) Unenh onhwa' Awayaton http://www.tdi.net/ishgooda/ &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&