The Sechelt Arts Festival (SAF) and its partners announced that they received a grant award from the Canada 150 Fund of the Department of Canadian Heritage last week in the amount of $96,700.
The funds are to go to a special community project called s-yiyaya, Our Families, Our Stories, that the organizers are calling “legacy building,” as it will encourage youth to meet with elders to learn their stories.
The process will build on existing reconciliation work between First Nations and settler communities, organizers say, and will culminate in a 2017 Festival multi-genre live stage presentation under the direction of professional local artists and producers.
“Why are the stories so important?” asked Festival producer Diana Robertson at a media announcement event on Dec. 11 at Chatelech Secondary School in School District No. 46, one of the SAF’s partners. “It’s because we need to know and understand our collective past.”
Robertson talked about how students will be asked to interpret the stories they collect using visual art, music, video or written word.
Member of Parliament Pam Goldsmith-Jones was on hand to congratulate the grant proponents on a job well done. “These are Canada’s voices,” she said.
Sechelt Mayor Bruce Milne thanked the government grant funding agency and noted “it is always positive when we get money for cultural activities.”
Kerry Mahlman, district principal for Aboriginal programs and services, said that the most important work we can do as Canadians is toward truth and reconciliation.
“To learn, listen, ask and respond,” she said, noting this was especially true for youth. “These young people are going to carry us forward.”
Candace Campo of the shíshálh nation was scheduled to attend but could not make it. When reached later by Coast Reporter, Campo said the project was a priority for her community.
“We’re super excited and we do plan on being every bit as much involved in it,” she said. Campo, who has often served as a cultural collaborator, was part of the initial organizing effort in acquiring the grant and the idea of s-yiyaya is a concept she shared with the team. The shíshálh people have been collecting stories for decades, she said.
Also attending to celebrate the project were representatives from the Sunshine Coast Arts Council, Nell Burns, Kathleen Hughes and Linda Williams, the District of Sechelt’s Connie Jordison and Sechelt community archivist Ann Watson. Other partners who will be involved in the project include Christenson Village and other care facilities and archival groups such as tems swiya museum, videographer Tamar Koslov and theatrical director Louise Phillips.
