Various workshops, live music, and a presentation about the Orange Shirt Society will be taking place during the Dak’et Shun (Music in the Fall) event taking place over the weekend.
The event kicks off this morning (Friday) with a virtual and in-person Hip-Hop and songwriting workshop from musical talent, Eekwol at the Omineca Arts Centre, which will be followed by a fiddle workshop with Wesley Hardisty.
Local artist, Kym Gouchie helped organize the event alongside the Prince George Folkfest Society.
She says there will be a virtual concert tonight featuring Eekwol, Wesley Hardisty, and the Thundering Eagles, which starts with a pre-show at 7:00 before the concert at 7:30.
A private drum-making workshop is taking place this weekend as well, which will be hosted by Norman Retasket, who has made over 7,000 drums in his lifetime, and is also a survivor of the Kamloops Residential School.
“When that announcement of the 215 children in the unmarked graves was announced, it opened him up and gave him, in a sense he felt like it gave him permission to tell his story. He’s just been going non-stop ever since and he does it through his drum making which he did previously, but now he’s doing it with more passion and more purpose,” Gouchie explained.
Additionally, Gouchie campaigned for the Orange Shirt Society all throughout the summer, an organization founded by Phyllis Webstad in Williams Lake, and Gouchie will be announcing the results of her efforts tonight during a virtual presentation about the society.
Gouchie says the event is taking place as part of the 94 Calls to Action from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, and was funded by the Canadian Heritage program.
“It’s also about holding space, creating awareness, and knowing that this is not something in the past. This is something that’s very real today and we need to keep talking about it and that’s the only way we’re going to move forward as a country,” she added.
Another live virtual concert will be taking place tomorrow night, which kicks off with a preshow at 7:00.
Twin Flames, Saltwater Hank, Araya, and Zoe Spooner, and the Khast’an Drummers will be playing during this time.
“Music is, as we all know, one of the most powerful tools in conveying messages and bringing people together and I believe that through the hard work of the Prince George Folkfest Society and the City of Prince George, they applied for the funding as the Canadian Heritage had some funds to amplify Indigenous communities and bring communities together, and really that’s what this is about,” she stated.
An art exhibit curated by the Northern Indigenous Arts Council will also be available throughout the weekend at the Uda Dune Baiyoh Conference Centre, which will be featured during the livestream pre-show.
Links to all of the virtual events can be accessed through the Coldsnap 2021 website.
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