National Arts Centre - Centre national des Arts Canada is our stage. Le Canada en scène.

Vancouver

The stories here | Te squélquel ikwe’elo

From the shores of skwtsa7s (Island of Dead Men), to the banks of the Sto:lo (Fraser River), Indigenous Cities Vancouver is a collection of stories revealing the land they are from. These stories hold the wisdom of sχʷəy̓em̓ (ancient stories), historical knowledge, and personal experience long since obscured by the city landscape.

An NAC Indigenous Theatre and Savage Society co-presentation

Through music, sound, and storytelling, each unique offering, curated by Indigenous artists and memory holders, evokes connection and invites interaction with the traditional landscapes of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish) Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh), Qiqéyt (Qayqayt), kʷikʷəƛ̓əm (Kwikwetlem), Katzie, Kwantlen, sq̓əc̓iy̓aɁɬ təməxʷ (Katzie) Nations.

Welcome and introduction

Artistic Director, Indigenous Theatre Nlaka'pamux nation, B.C. Kevin Loring
Artistic Director, Indigenous Theatre Nlaka'pamux nation, B.C. Kevin Loring

Kevin Loring (Nlaka’pamux, Lytton First Nation) is a Canadian playwright, actor, and director, currently serving as the first Artistic Director of Indigenous Theatre at the National Arts Centre. He has received numerous accolades, including the Governor General’s Award for English-language drama and the Jessie Richardson Award for Outstanding Original Script for Where the Blood Mixes (2009), which also received a nomination for the Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding New Play. His 2019 work, Thanks for Giving, was shortlisted for the Governor General’s Award for Drama.

Loring began his studies at Cariboo College (now Thompson Rivers University) and completed his theatre education at Studio 58, Langara College. He was recognized as a distinguished alumnus by Thompson Rivers University in 2015 and later awarded an honorary doctorate in 2024. In 2017, he received the REVEAL Indigenous Arts Award from the Hnatyshyn Foundation, and in 2021, he was recognized with an honorary doctorate from the University of Ottawa.

As an actor, Loring’s stage credits include Saint Carmen of the Main, The Ecstasy of Rita Joe, and an all-Indigenous production of King Lear at the National Arts Centre in 2012. He has appeared in film and television series, including Arctic Air, Health Nutz, Pathfinder and Bones of Crows. His writing credits feature Little Red Warrior and His Lawyer, Battle of the Birds, and The Boy Who Was Abandoned. In 2023, he collaborated with true-crime author Peter Edwards on Lytton: Climate Change, Colonialism and Life Before the Fire, reflecting on the community’s history and its significance to the Nlaka’pamux people after the devastating wildfire in 2021.

Loring has served as co-curator of the Talking Stick Festival, Artist in Residence at the Vancouver Playhouse Theatre, and current Artistic Director of Savage Society in Vancouver.

Membre de la Première Nation Nlaka’pamux de Lytton, Kevin Loring est un dramaturge, un acteur et un metteur en scène canadien; il est le premier et l’actuel directeur artistique du Théâtre autochtone du Centre national des Arts. Il a reçu diverses récompenses, notamment le Prix littéraire du Gouverneur général en théâtre de langue anglaise et le Prix Jessie-Richardson du meilleur texte original pour sa pièce Where the Blood Mixes (2009), qui a également été mise en nomination pour un prix Dora Mavor Moore de la meilleure nouvelle pièce. En 2019, sa pièce Thanks for Giving a été finaliste aux Prix littéraires du Gouverneur général dans la catégorie théâtre de langue anglaise.

Après des études au Collège Cariboo (aujourd’hui l’Université Thompson Rivers), Kevin Loring parfait sa formation au Studio 58 du Collège Langara. L’Université Thompson Rivers lui a remis un Prix de distinction en 2015, avant de lui décerner un doctorat honorifique en 2024. En 2017, il a remporté le prix en art autochtone REVEAL de la Fondation Hnatyshyn et a reçu en 2021 un doctorat honorifique de l’Université d’Ottawa.

Au théâtre, on a pu le voir dans Saint Carmen of the Main, The Ecstasy of Rita Joe, et la production entièrement autochtone de King Lear au Centre national des Arts (2012). Au cinéma et à la télévision, il a joué dans Arctic Air, Health Nutz, Pathfinder (Le sang du guerrier, en VF) et Bones of Crows (L’ombre des corbeaux, en VF). Comme auteur, on lui doit notamment Little Red Warrior and His Lawyer, Battle of the Birds et The Boy Who Was Abandoned. En 2023, il a coécrit avec l’auteur spécialiste en affaires criminelles Peter Edwards, Lytton: Climate Change, Colonialism and Life Before the Fire, un ouvrage qui retrace l’histoire de Lytton et de la communauté Nlaka’pamux et s’interroge sur l’avenir de la ville après l’incendie dévastateur de 2021.

Kevin Loring a œuvré comme coorganisateur du Festival Talking Stick, artiste résident au Vancouver Playhouse Theatre et directeur artistique de la Savage Society à Vancouver.
NAC media featuring Kevin Loring
Close

Learn more about this piece

sasqets at sx̌ʷéyəməł © Ronnie Dean Harris, Stō:lo/St’át'imc/Lil’wat/N’laka'pamux

</p><p>

Listen on location

Walk around the areas highlighted on the map to listen to the stories on location. All you need is a device with you that can run the link in a browser (Internet connection required).

skwtsa7s (Deadman’s Island)
Deadman’s Island, 1200 Stanley Park Dr, Vancouver, BC
- Featuring Chief Kwakwee Baker
  Featuring Chief Kwakwee Baker
  
  Chief Xusamda'as Tsamkwa'gatl - Kwakwee Baker is an internationally recognized Multi-Media Designer. Specializing in drawing and painting, graphic design, film production, education and performance in acting and stage. He hails from the Squamish, Musgamagw Dzawada'Nuik, Namgis, Kwaguilth Nations, and resides in Vancouver. He feels fortunate to have been brought up with the Potlatch Traditions and Ceremonies, with mentoring and apprenticeship he received from his extended families. With a unique eye for picture and design, he is continually inspired to push the boundaries, and is consistently creating new and innovative platforms to challenging what we know as contemporary North West Coast “Native” Art.
  
  Chief Xusamda'as Tsamkwa'gatl - Kwakwee Baker est un concepteur multimédia de renommée internationale. Il se spécialise dans le dessin et la peinture, la conception graphique, la production de films, l’éducation et le jeudans le domaine du théâtre et de la scène. Il est originaire des nations Squamish, Musgamagw Dzawada'Nuik, Namgis, Kwaguilth, et réside à Vancouver. Il s’estime chanceux d’avoir été élevé dans le respect des traditions et des cérémonies de potlatch, grâce au mentorat et à l’apprentissage qu’il a reçu de ses familles élargies. Avec un œil unique pour l’image et le design, il est continuellement inspiré à repousser les limites, et crée constamment de nouvelles plateformes innovatrices pour remettre en question ce que nous connaissons comme l’art « autochtone » contemporain de la côte nord-ouest.
  
  NAC media featuring Chief Kwakwee Baker
  
  Projects & initiatives
  
  Close
The purpose of this story is to share knowledge of Squamish history of the surrounding lands of Vancouver and specifically what is now called Stanley Park, that is rich with legends, history and mysticism. In addition to sharing his cultural knowledge, Kwakwee hopes to further develop the story into a play and motion picture.
- Learn more
- Download mp3
The Promise (1864)
skʷəkʷtɛ’xʷqən or t̓sic̓əl̓əs / Sapperton Landing Park, New Westminster, BC
- Featuring Ronnie Dean Harris
  Featuring Ronnie Dean Harris
  
  Ronnie Dean Harris aka Ostwelve, is a Stō:lo/St’át'imc/Lil’wat/N’laka'pamux multimedia artist based in New Westminster, B.C. Beginning in music, he has explored various mediums such as TV, film, visual + sound design alongside various research subjects including history, cosmology, genealogy and Indigenous policy.
  
  In late 1951, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh leader Andy Paull wrote an article which would later serve as a eulogy for our Grandfather Chief Kwikwetlem William aka xem-tey-nem. In this article, Andy would recognize important events in our grandfather’s life. From his witness of the first settlers on the river to his attendance and witness to an important historical gathering at Sapperton for then Queen Victoria’s birthday with Governor Frederick Seymour to his assault by an inmate at the Colony Farm Forensic Psychiatric Hospital.
  
  Also in this article, was a mention of stories told by our Grandfather Kwikwetlem about how “sasquatches would uproot trees where the City of New Westminster now stands and were seen carrying as many as five salmon on each hand and bales of smoked salmon to their abodes in the forest.” Living in New Westminster, this caught my attention and I wanted to be able to tell this story and explore this memory in this space and time.
  
  While I often imagine what it would be like to sit with my grandfather, I now wonder what it would be like to hear his stories and memories through eyes of someone who was here “he witnessed the trees whose bows kissed the waters of the Fraser gradually being chopped down” and “lived to see the railroad span the continent”.
  
  He is also a contributing storyteller to the Vancouver edition of Indigenous Cities, 2021.
  
  Ronnie Dean Harris, alias Ostwelve, est un artiste multimédia Stō:lo/St'át'imc/Lil'wat/N’laka'pamux basé à New Westminster, en Colombie-Britannique. Après ses débuts en musique, il a exploré divers médias tels que la télévision, le cinéma, la conception visuelle et sonore, ainsi que divers sujets de recherche, notamment l’histoire, la cosmologie, la généalogie et la politique autochtone.
  
  À la fin de 1951, le chef des Sḵwx̱wú7meshs Andy Paull a écrit un article qui a plus tard servi d’éloge funèbre pour notre grand-père, le chef Kwikwetlem William alias xem-tey-nem. Dans cet article, Andy reconnaît les événements importants de la vie de notre grand-père. De son témoignage des premiers colons sur la rivière, à sa présence et son témoignage lors d’un important rassemblement historique à Sapperton pour l’anniversaire de la reine Victoria avec le gouverneur Frederick Seymour, à son agression par un détenu de l’hôpital psychiatrique judiciaire de Colony Farm.
  
  Cet article mentionnait également des histoires racontées par notre grand-père Kwikwetlem, selon lesquelles « les Sasquatchs déracinaient les arbres où se trouve aujourd’hui la ville de New Westminster et on les voyait transporter jusqu’à cinq saumons sur chaque main et des ballots de saumon fumé jusqu’à leurs demeures dans la forêt ». Vivant à New Westminster, cela a attiré mon attention et je voulais pouvoir raconter cette histoire et explorer ce souvenir dans cet espace et ce temps.
  
  Alors que j’imagine souvent ce que ce serait de m’asseoir avec mon grand-père, je me demande maintenant ce que ce serait d’entendre ses récits et ses souvenirs à travers les yeux de quelqu’un qui était là : « il a vu les arbres dont les cimes embrassaient les eaux du Fraser être progressivement abattus » et « il a vu le chemin de fer traverser le continent ».
  
  Il est également l’un des conteurs de l’édition de Vancouver de Cités autochtones, en 2021.
  
  NAC media featuring Ronnie Dean Harris
  
  Projects & initiatives
  
  Videos
  
  Close
On May 24th, 1864, upwards of 4,000 Indigenous witnesses gathered to hear the words of then Governor Fredrick Seymour for the birthday celebration of Queen Victoria. The Promise: 1864 tells the story of this historical event and a promise unfulfilled.
- Learn more
- Download mp3
Qekiyeksut (The Boy Who Will Wander)
18th Avenue and Main Street, Vancouver, BC
- Featuring Russell Wallace
  Featuring Russell Wallace
  
  Russell Wallace is an award-winning composer, producer and traditional singer from the Lil’wat Nation. His music can be heard on soundtracks for film, television and theatre/dance productions across Canada and the U.S. Wallace is one of the founding members of the Aboriginal Writers Collective West Coast and is an alumnus of the UBC Creative Writing program. Wallace has written poetry, short fiction, theatre, and music theatre. Wallace was the artist in residence at the Vancouver International Jazz Festival in 2019, a guest programmer for Word Vancouver and was the artistic director for the Aboriginal Electronic Music Festival for a number of years.
  
  Russell Wallace est un compositeur, producteur et chanteur traditionnel primé de la nation Lil'wat. On peut entendre sa musique sur des bandes sonores de films, d’émissions de télévision et de productions de théâtre et de danse partout au Canada et aux États-Unis. Wallace est l’un des membres fondateurs de l’Aboriginal Writers Collective West Coast et est un ancien élève du programme de création littéraire de l’Université de Colombie-Britannique. Wallace a écrit de la poésie, des nouvelles, du théâtre et des comédies musicales. Wallace a été l’artiste en résidence du Vancouver International Jazz Festival en 2019, programmateur invité pour Word Vancouver et directeur artistique du Aboriginal Electronic Music Festival pendant plusieurs années.
  
  NAC media featuring Russell Wallace
  
  Projects & initiatives
  
  Close
Qekiyeksut (The Boy Who Will Wander) pays homage to the traditional name that has influenced the growth of three generations. Using music and spoken word, Qekiyeksut tells the story of identity in the neighbourhood of what is now known as Mount Pleasant.
- Learn more
- Download mp3
Məθkʷəy̓
Camosun Bog, Vancouver, BC
- Featuring Quelemia Sparrow
  Featuring Quelemia Sparrow
  
  NAC media featuring Quelemia Sparrow
  
  Projects & initiatives
  
  Close
On the territory of the Məθkʷəy̓, cousins Quelemia and Chrystal Sparrow share the teachings of the legend of the sʔiɬqey̓ (double-headed serpent), while having a conversation on what it means to be contemporary Musqueam artists.
- Learn more
- Download mp3
I Am Here Grandmother
Firehall Arts Centre / Old No. 1 Firehall, 280 E. Cordova Street, Vancouver, BC
- Featuring Olivia C. Davies
  Featuring Olivia C. Davies
  
  Olivia C. Davies is a contemporary Indigenous artist who creates and collaborates across multiple platforms including choreography, creative writing, film, improvisation, and sound design. Davies’ body of work explores the emotional and political relationships between people and places, often investigating the body’s dynamic ability to transmit narrative, seeking to traverse boundaries and challenge social prejudice by conveying concepts and impressions that open different ways to experience the world.
  
  Her work has been presented in B.C., Alberta, Ontario and Quebec since 2011. She is the Artistic Director of O.Dela Arts, the Matriarchs Uprising Festival, and is a founding member of the Crow’s Nest Collective (Vancouver), MataDanze Collective (Toronto) and Circadia Indigena Arts Collective (Ottawa). She honours her mixed Anishinaabe, French Canadian, Finnish and Welsh heritage in her work.
  
  Olivia C. Davies est une artiste autochtone contemporaine qui crée et collabore sur de multiples plateformes, notamment la chorégraphie, l’écriture créative, le cinéma, l’improvisation et la conception sonore. L’ensemble de son œuvre explore les relations émotionnelles et politiques entre les gens et les lieux, en examinant souvent la capacité dynamique du corps à transmettre la narration, en cherchant à traverser les frontières et à défier les préjugés sociaux en transmettant des concepts et des impressions qui ouvrent différentes façons d’expérimenter le monde.
  
  Son travail a été présenté en Colombie-Britannique, en Alberta, en Ontario et au Québec depuis 2011. Elle est la directrice artistique de O.Dela Arts, du Matriarchs Uprising Festival, et est un membre fondateur de Crow’s Nest Collective (Vancouver), de MataDanze Collective (Toronto) et de Circadia Indigena Arts Collective (Ottawa). Avec ses oeuvres, elle rend hommage à son héritage mixte anishinaabe, canadien-français, finlandais et gallois.
  
  NAC media featuring Olivia C. Davies
  
  Projects & initiatives
  
  Close
In I Am Here Grandmother, Rosemary Georgeson tells the story of how childhood memories and the Firehall Arts Centre led her to reclaiming four generations of her family, all propelled by the love for her great grandmother.
- Learn more
- Download mp3