Thank you.
[Witness speaks in her native language]
First, I'd like to acknowledge the ancestral land of the Algonquin Nation, and I thank them for the opportunity to speak on behalf of the Gitxsan Nation.
Second, I acknowledge this committee and thank them for the opportunity to speak about my dance practice.
Growing up in a small community on the northwest coast of British Columbia, I was immersed from a young age in the practice of song and dance that has been passed down from countless generations. It was through this experience that I entered into a relationship with my ancestral memories.
Today, as a Gitxsan dancer, a practice that interweaves many artistic disciplines, dance has become a place from which the embodied processes of my Gitxsan teachings can form. As I am the executive and artistic director for the Dancers of Damelahamid, the work that I do is to ensure the continuation of what has been of such great importance to my parents and grandparents, and now to me.
My grandmother, matriarch Irene Harris, awakened the songs and dances of her lineage, having lived the majority of her life through the potlatch ban. Therefore, I treasure dance as the most significant inheritance that I have from my ancestors, and it will be a life journey to strive to develop the art to its full potential.
For me, dance, song, and story have provided a protective environment to address the limitations placed on our indigenous peoples. In our performances we are not only turning to our ancestral knowledge for our own reconciliation, but we are also sharing and supporting others through art.
Gitxsan dance is an educational tool. The healing space created by dance is very powerful for indigenous people and all Canadians. The Dancers of Damelahamid share our professional practices with students at elementary, secondary, and post-secondary institutions. These instructional workshops on first nations dance are central to the company's activities. The benefits of these educational workshops for students include empathy, cultural appreciation, focus, agility, teamwork, and discipline. This vital work supports the company's mandate and ability to influence social change through art.
Gitxsan dance advances the ongoing processes of reconciliation. The Dancers of Damelahamid have a longstanding relationship with Vancouver choreographer Karen Jamieson. Her generosity of spirit has inspired collaborative projects for over 25 years.
As a result of this success, the Dancers of Damelahamid support the Canada Council for the Arts new funding initiative entitled {Re}conciliation. This unique initiative will promote artistic collaborations between aboriginal and non-aboriginal artists, investing in the power of art and imagination to inspire dialogue, understanding, and change. This initiative precedes the release of the report from Canada's truth and reconciliation commission and seeks to help artists and Canadians alike to reflect upon and help repair historic injustices. With this initiative and the new program of aboriginal arts, the Canada Council is working to better recognize and support the work of first nations artists.
Gitxsan dance promotes cross-cultural understanding of first nations heritage.
The Dancers of Damelahamid are set to tour their new dance work through the Made in BC—Dance on Tour in the fall of 2015. The Dancers of Damelahamid's presence in these B.C. communities provides an important opportunity to open cultural dialogue as the majority of these venues have never presented a first nations dance company up until now. It is timely that relationships are developed between presenters and aboriginal dance artists.
The Dancers of Damelahamid produce the annual Coastal First Nations Dance Festival in partnership with the UBC Museum of Anthropology in Vancouver. The festival is a celebration of the stories, songs, and dances of indigenous peoples of the northwest coast. The festival presents dance artists from British Columbia, the Yukon, and Alaska, as well as national and international artists, and demonstrates that these traditions are very much alive, vibrant, and relevant today. Guest artists from across Canada, as well as international groups from New Zealand, Australia, Ecuador, and Peru, have been invited to share their traditions, allowing the Coastal First Nations Dance Festival to connect with the global community of indigenous dance.
The Coastal First Nations Dance Festival receives moderate support through the development component of the Department of Canadian Heritage's Canada arts presentation fund.
The impact of this festival nationally and internationally as a platform for serving a diversity of indigenous dance warrants significant funding. The Canada arts presentation fund program should move forward in a way that strengthens and increases its ability to be inclusive and more supportive of these distinct art forms.
Thank you.
[Witness speaks in her native language]