Reconciliation concert

Second annual Truth and Reconciliation concert features iskwē

Juno Award winner iskwē was the featured performer in the second annual Truth and Reconciliation concert at the Regent Theatre last Friday. General Manager Alexandra Seay said she had been trying to get iskwē on the Regent stage since joining the theatre and was thrilled that it eventually happened, citing iskwē’s busy performing schedule. Seay noted that this concert, taking place on the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, was an opportunity for Indigenous voices to speak their truth, and that she was honoured to continue a tradition of storytelling in an area that has been home to Indigenous peoples for thousands of years. “People have shared stories on this land and sung songs on this land for generations, and I am humbled that we are able to continue that legacy today.”

The concert opened with a surprise performance by David R. Maracle, who read his poem Velvet Ground and Feathered Skies. “All of us are stewards of the land, and the land is vitally important to us. Today is a day for reflection,” he said. He added that his father was a residential school survivor. “He was beaten for speaking his language, but he maintained that and he went on in his life to be a great speaker. He spoke all of the dialects of the Six Nations. He walked that path of understanding who he was as a Mohawk man, and it’s important for me to pick up where he left off, and to be proud of who we are as Indigenous people.” Juno nominee Shawnee Kish was the second performer.

She is a Mohawk singer/songwriter, now based in Edmonton. She proudly identifies as two-spirit, and she opened her set by reading a letter she wrote to her 16-yearold self. “What if I told you you deserve a seat at the table and a place in the world? What if I told you the blood that runs through your veins makes you beautiful? What if I told you the voice you have from the Creator has power and strength and can reach hearts, bodies, minds and spirits? What if I told you you were a survivor?”

Pat Larkin from County Radio introduced isiskwē to the stage after the intermission. She has a Cree-Métis and Irish heritage and the Indigenous name she has adopted means “blue sky woman”. She said that for her, the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation was “a day of finding love collectively and supporting each other.” She was accompanied on stage by pianist Mary Ancheta. Her songs touched on a wide variety of themes, from dealing with depression, anxiety and PTSD, to her relationship with her mother, to dealing with end-of-life issues. She won the Juno award in 2020 for Music Video of the Year for her song Little Star, which she opened her set with. She explained that she wrote that song after the acquittal of two white men in separate cases for the murders of Indigenous youths Tina Fontaine and Colton Boushie. “I felt this rage come through my being that I had never experienced before, and it wasn’t because they were new stories, it wasn’t as though I hadn’t been part of those stories in the past. But these ones felt different. I looked over to a dear friend and said ‘How are we going to move forward in our lives? How are we going to move forward as Indigenous people. How are we going to move forward as citizens of this planet?’ Because at the end of the day, all of these stories—these aren’t Indigenous problems, these are people problems. We need to be taking care of all of our children. Because if we are not taking care of one particular group of children, no children count. Because all children count.”