Matriarchs Uprising Celebrates Powerful Works by Indigenous Dance Artists

“Who are the women? Who are the shining stars in my galaxy? And how can I open up space for them to present their works?”

Inspired by the strong Indigenous women dance artists in her network, Olivia C. Davies answered her own questions and launched a three-night showcase of work entitled Matriarchs Uprising: Indigenous Women Dancing Stories of Transformation.

The desire to make space for women was tied to political movements as women and Indigenous people reclaim power and space.

“The pendulum is swinging, and the shift in balance in terms of power and privilege and everything that we’ve struggled for is now actually coming to light,” Davies said. “So, bringing forward women’s voices was just a natural inclination.”

Matriarchs Uprising, which runs from Thursday to Saturday, features three evening performances from six Indigenous women of varying levels of expertise and experience. The performances “reach a number of different audiences and interests,” says Davies.

The most well-established works are choreographed and performed by Michelle Olson of Raven Spirit Dance and Santee Smith of Kaha:wi Dance Theatre in a double bill on National Indigenous Peoples Day on Friday. The other evenings are dedicated to emerging artists performing works-in-progress.

The event will include talks and workshops that give people the chance to develop their own dances and explore topics like community connections through Indigenous dance and “creating solo works that are imbued with ancestral spirit.”

Davies, a Vancouver-based contemporary dance artist of Anishinaabe, French-Canadian and Welsh heritage, has been part of the Indigenous contemporary dance world for the past two decades.

“The main objective here was to highlight the works of other Indigenous artists who I know and love and have deep respect for their craft,” she says. “These are all women who I have kinship with.”

The choice to centre women in the festival was informed by both personal and political reasons, but some of Davies’s inspiration comes from her mother. “I was raised by a very strong, independent woman who made it her life’s work to open up opportunities for other women. This value is translated to me,” she says.

In an interview with The Dance Centre, Davies talked about how Indigenous people around the world have been rising up “to confront colonial power structures.”

In Canada, there have been court cases over land rights, legal and community resistance to the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project and calls for reconciliation and reparations for historical and ongoing colonial violence.

Women spearheaded many of these movements, including the Ktunaxa Nation’s legal case against the B.C. minister of forests, lands and natural resource operations. The action against Glacier Resorts Ltd. was led by Ktunaxa Nation Council chair Kathryn Teneese, and Kanahus Manuel is a founder of the Tiny House Warriors, an anti-Trans Mountain Pipeline organization.

The pendulum swing has been further bolstered by Indigenous calls for “rematriation.”

For Davies, rematriation is about applying a feminist lens to the concept of repatriation, a term related to cultural objects and stories being returned or sent back to the lands they came from.

In the context of dance, rematriation is about female artists “creating artistic works that touch on Indigenous feminist ideologies” and being “guardians of the past” while also “working in the present to provide a better future for all of us,” Davies says.

Dance is also “a reclaiming of our identity, of cultural teachings that may have been lost or may not have been shared with us along the way.”

Some of this historical loss was due to the federal Potlatch ban. From 1885 to 1951, the Canadian government outlawed potlatches and other cultural events, and threatened people with jail if they were caught practicing their traditional culture.

According to the Kwakwaka’wakw, the potlatch is a central part of their way of life that marks births, deaths and other major events. The sharing of dances and songs is a key aspect of the potlatch. For many First Nations people, learning their community’s dances is a means to keep their culture alive.

“It wasn’t until the 1970s that [the potlatch] started to become a normal part of our lives once again, with the idea that we could potlatch without repercussions or imprisonment,” explained Barb Cranmer, a Kwakwaka'wakw woman and member of the ‘Namgis Nation.

In the decades since the ban was lifted, there has been a revival of traditional Indigenous dance, and a growing number of contemporary Indigenous dance artists and companies. Davies has seen this change in her lifetime and feels “empowered” to be a part of it now.

Alongside solo artists like Davies, Vancouver-based companies such as the Dancers of Damelahamid, Compaigni V’ni Dansi, and Raven Spirit Dance have garnered national and international acclaim, touring and presenting traditional and contemporary work that tells stories about womanhood, culture, violence, loss, hope, rebirth, connection and community, all with an Indigenous worldview.

“I think it’s just naturally growing as the Canadian zeitgeist has also grown to better understand what true reconciliation means, in terms of understanding our national identity and the wrongs that were done, and how we can honour the past to move into the future in a good way,” Davies says.

Matriarchs Uprising: Indigenous Women Dancing Stories of Transformation takes place June 20 to 22, 2019. All events except the Thursday performance take place at Scotiabank Dance Centre, 677 Davie St., Vancouver, B.C.

Performances:

Thursday June 20, 7 p.m.: Cheyenne Rain LeGrande (Canada) and Mariaa Randall (Australia). At 8EAST, 8 East Pender St., Vancouver.

Friday June 21, 8 p.m.: Raven Spirit Dance (Canada) and Kaha:wi Dance Theatre (Canada).

Saturday June 22, 8pm: Jessica McMann (Canada) and Maura Garcia Dance (USA).

Tickets: $30 regular, $22 students, seniors, CADA and Dance Centre members, three-show pack $75 (limited availability). Click here to see the workshops and studio showcases on offer over the three days.