Coast-to-Coast-to-Coast: Call, Respond, Reflect Drums Across Canada Event Doubles in Size to Close 2022 Celebration of Nations Indigenous Arts Gathering

Coast-to-Coast-to-Coast: Call, Respond, Reflect Drums Across Canada Event Doubles in Size to Close 2022 Celebration of Nations Indigenous Arts Gathering

Thursday 1 September 2022 – Drums Across Canada returns at 3:30 p.m. (EDT) on 11 September 2022 as a FREE live and virtual cross-country drum circle broadcast event drawing the Celebration of Nations gathering to a close with collective message of unity, peace, respect, and friendship.

Drums Across Canada will pair Indigenous drumming groups from six provinces and two territories with eight different performing arts venues:

Drum Group	Performing Arts Venue Partner
Pokəholakənəl Witsehkehsolticik (Sisters of the Drum)	Imperial Theatre Saint John, New Brunswick
Sipu Singers with All Nations Drum	King’s Theatre Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia
Strong Water Singers With Warrior Womyn of Positive Drum	FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre St. Catharines, Ontario
Dakhká Khwáan Dancers	Yukon Arts Centre Whitehorse, Yukon Territory
Yellowknives Dene Drummers	Northern Arts and Cultural Centre Yellowknife, Northwest Territories
Buffalo Gals	West End Cultural Centre Winnipeg, Manitoba
Lennox Island First Nation	Confederation Centre of the Arts Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island
Theresa Bear Fox and Kontiwennenhawi (The Akwesasne Women Singers)	Place des Arts Montréal QC

Drum groups will participate in a traditional call and response that will start in Niagara and travel back and forth across the country before culminating with a shared song and reflections from each drum group about their Drums Across Canada experience.

Drums Across Canada was created by Celebration of Nations Artistic Director Michele-Elise Burnett to foster healing, send love and drum for the children’s spirits who never made it home, our ancestors, our matriarchs, MMIWG2S, the next generation, for healing, and for wisdom. The message will echo unity, peace, respect and friendship in order to forge a new paradigm shift needed to create transformative and sustainable change for the next 7 Generations.

“Our drums are incredibly powerful medicine within our Indigenous culture. The beat of the drum mimics the nurturing heartbeat which is the first sound we hear in our mother’s womb. That heartbeat of Mother Earth resonates healing frequencies. By adding additional drum circles and performing arts venues to this year’s Drums Across Canada event and offering virtual participation options, even more people will be able to join us in wrapping our arms around this country to ripple out the much needed healing energies so many of our relations and kin are seeking. This powerful circle will send out love, gratitude, and respect though our songs, our dances and our drums for residential school survivors, the children’s spirit who never made it home, MMIW2S and to our ancestors, our elders, our matriarchs, our youth, and our relatives from the natural world.”

Join the FREE drum circle live in St. Catharines at the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre or virtually through the PAC’s YouTube channel. People are encouraged to check with the performing arts venue partner in their area to see how to participate in-person.

The Drums Across Canada 2022 program has been made possible with generous funding from the Government of Canada’s Celebration and Commemoration Program – Commemorate Canada Component through the Department of Canadian Heritage.

Drums Across Canada is one of several Celebration of Nations events at the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre in downtown St. Catharines, Ontario taking place 9-11 Sept 2022. Celebration of Nations is an annual gathering of Indigenous Arts, Culture and Heritage and is curated by Artistic Director Michele-Elise Burnett (Métis) and Artistic Producer Tim Johnson (Mohawk). The 6th annual gathering includes over 40 free and ticketed events including musical performances by Buffy Sainte-Marie, Shawnee Kish, Strong Water Singers, Mimi O’Bonsawin, Lacey Hill, The Métis Fiddlers, and more; a sacred fire that will burn throughout the weekend overseen by Fire Keepers Fred Bowering and Brian Kon; The Red Dress Exhibit – If Only These Dresses Could Tell Their Story; sunrise ceremonies and teachings around the sacred fire with Grandmother Jackie Labonte, Audra Sewell Malone, Grandmother Renee Thomas-Hill, and Perry Ground; teaching sessions focused on Indigenous Plant Life Along the Laura Secord Legacy Trail, and an information sharing session with The Niagara Escarpment Biosphere Network.

CLICK HERE FOR FULL CELEBRATION OF NATIONS PROGRAMMING

Celebration of Nations is part of a long-term vision of the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre, Kakekalanicks and the City of St. Catharines. Now entering it’s 6^th year, Celebration of Nations aims to build on the Two Row Wampum that promotes all Nations walking together, in parallel, with respect, compassion and understanding to cultivate an inclusive community for our shared future. It is intended to provide opportunities for national and international visitors to actively participate in an inclusive and engaging community gathering that will foster a greater sense of belonging, support meaningful reconciliation, and leave a lasting legacy of goodwill for future generations.

Kakekalanicks’ mission is to promote Indigenous art and artists to broad-based audiences and acts to educate the public about the deep-rooted beauty and uniqueness of each Nation’s culture, heritage and traditions through the medium of the arts.

The FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre is a 95,000 square foot cultural complex comprised of four state-of-the-art performance venues and an outdoor space located downtown St. Catharines, Ontario on the shared traditional lands of the Haudenosaunee, Anishinaabe, Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation and many other Indigenous people from across Turtle Island. The PAC hosts a signature presentation series of international and local performing artists and plays a vital role in the renaissance of downtown St. Catharines, serving as the catalyst in modernizing the area and reinforcing the brilliance of Niagara region’s diverse cultural cluster. The PAC aims to provide meaningful opportunities to bring our community together in a place of mutual understanding, empathy and respect through the arts.

 

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For all media inquiries and interviews please contact:

Jordy Yack
Communications Coordinator, FirstOntario PAC
905-688-5601 x3614, jyack@firstontariopac.ca
www.firstontariopac.ca