Beyond Borders
Elaine and I take an annual summer sojourn to Saskatchewan to visit with friends, family and colleagues. We write this blog from her home-town of Saskatoon, and share below two highlights from this year’s adventure.
Hosting a Canadian Debut of Cynthia Welik-Salgado’s “Beyond Borders”
Central to our time in SK was curating an 8-day tour of the Welik-Salgado family (we’ll report more fully on that in the Jul-Aug Enews). A highlight of this time was working with colleagues at Mennonite Central Committee Saskatoon office to host a public screening of Cynthia’s recent documentaries that address issues of immigrant rights in the U.S. (left).
“Beyond Borders” looks at new immigrant perspectives through powerful dances set in the New York urbanscape (see trailer here). And in a powerful short entitled “A Prayer of Transformation,” Cynthia choreographed colleagues in a dance of resistance to ICE oppression (also shot around the city, and narrated and produced by spouse Mauricio).
Following these films we heard from Cynthia, and responses from Cree elder Harry Lafond (speaking at right) and MCC immigration staff Mark Bigland-Pritchard (at left of photo), who connected the issues to current Canadian policies. The group of 50 participants then engaged in Q&A; a powerful evening!
Commemorating the 150th Anniversary of Treaty Six at Poundmaker Reserve: Another Pilgrimage of Pedagogy with Elders Harry & Germaine Lafond
Each summer Elaine and I make sure to spend time with friends and elders Harry and Germaine Lafond, who often take us on daytrips to sites of Cree culture and history. In Healing Haunted Histories we describe such explorations as “pilgrimages of pedagogy” through which we build our knowledge of and connection to the past and present of this place and its peoples.
As this year is the 150th anniversary of the signing of Treaty Six—a watershed event in Indigenous-settler relations in the prairies—we drove three hours to Poundmaker Reserve, northeast of North Battleford, to participate in a Treaty commemoration and Powwow.
(Right; native leaders surround the Lt. General envoy of the Crown!)
A rich, daylong educational program focused on elders sharing oral traditions about legendary chiefs Poundmaker and Big Bear, and the history and meaning of the original Treaty as a sacred covenant through Cree eyes. Other speakers looked at the many ways in which Britain
and Canada betrayed their commitments to Indigenous communities, and current efforts to restore Indigenous rights and self-determination that the Treaty is supposed to guarantee. Several chiefs from other Native nations joined the gathering for strategic alliance-building and joint calls for justice.
Participants proceeded up to the Poundmaker Museum and Gallery, where Elaine and I lingered over a long and lively conversation with two prominent Reserve animators: museum curator Floyd Favel Starr and Powwow MC Milton Tootoosis (left, with Harry).
The day culminated in the Powwow Grand Entry Dance, a spectacular expression of culture, language, ceremony and heart (right). If you have not experienced this amazing tradition before, we encourage you to take a few minutes to view this video (Grand Entry is from 3:30-14:50).
On the long drive home, Elaine and I discussed how this day was a moving expression of “Indigenous Resurgence,” and felt deep gratitude for how the Lafonds accompany us into such glimpses of the Cree world. To learn more about the contested history of Treaty Six and 19th century settler colonial duplicity toward Indigenous communities, we highly recommend this recent overview by Metis analyst Kyle Muzyka (1 hr).
Because August 15th is Elaine’s 59th birthday (and she can cry if she wants to), we leave you with these photos of her delighting in two of her four most recent grand-niblings—bringing the current total to14!
(Left, Cameron, with Elaine’s sister Diane and niece Emily; right, Margot, with niece/mother Jayne and sister Janet.)
Elaine joins me in sending greetings from Saskatchewan. –CM
PS: If you missed last month’s Faith & Money Network webinar on Luke’s Parable of the Pounds, which I offered as an exercise in decolonizing how we read the Bible, you can listen to it here (48 minutes).
