UNSTRUNG Benefit Concert for Wet’suwet’en Land Defenders

UNSTRUNG

Tickets $xx / $20 / $10 / Free Available here

Covid protocols in place, Tickets, Vaccination passports and masks required for entry.

Guests Dallas Arcand, Cree Musician and Hoop Dancer

Marjorie Dumont, Tsayu Clan, Presenter 

Gunargie, aka Ga'axstasalas, Tlowitsis tribe, M.C.

December 12, 5:00 pm 
Orpheum Annex, 823 Seymour Street, Vancouver BC
 

Join us as we improvise, bringing together our varied traditions, some of us performing together for the first time! Guests Dallas Arcand, Marjorie Dumont and Gunargie, aka Ga'axstasalas, join with musicians in solidarity. 

A co-presentation of Sound of Dragon and the NOW Society

100% of Ticket sales will be donated equally to Gidimt’en Checkpoint and Unistot’en Legal Fund.
 

Musicians

Surtrisno Hartana                             rebab, suling (Indonesian fiddle and flute), voice
Sina Ettehad                                     kamanche (Iranian fiddle)
Lan Tung                                           erhu (Chinese fiddle), voice
Meredith Bates, Joshua Zubot          violin
Lucy Strauss, Reginald Quiring        viola
James Meger                                    acoustic bass
Lisa Cay Miller                                  conduction
 

Guests

Dallas Arcand
Cree Musician and Hoop Dancer

Dallas Arcand is a multi-talented artist who won the world spotlight with his astonishing Hoop Dancing at the 2010 Olympic Games opening ceremonies. Dallas is a three-time World Champion Hoop Dancer from the Alexander (Kipohtakaw) Plains Cree Nation near Edmonton, Alberta. He is best known as a champion Hoop Dancer as well as a motivational speaker, storyteller, and musician.
 

Dallas, whose Aboriginal name is ‘Dancing Buffalo Man’ (Nimihto Paskwa Mostôs Napew), for many years had no idea that dancing would become a major influence in his life. Dallas has been a World Class Hoop and Indigenous Dancer for over two decades. His dancing ranges from traditional to contemporary indigenous styles including; Fancy, Grass, Jigging, Break, and Hoop Dancing.

Marjorie Dumont, C’tan
Vice-President,
Vancouver Elementary School Teachers’ Association

The protocol of introducing oneself to others is vital to my Indigenous roots, and so, I share this with you. Dini ze, ts’ake ze, skiy ze, Hadih, So’endzin. Geen Tabi honzoo. C’tan sozi. Sne Wila’at endzin. Sbeb tsitni’in Wah tah ghet endzin. N’iwh Dini ze’ cho Na’Moks endzin

I have taught in elementary, secondary and post-secondary institutions. I am Currently a vice-president of the local teachers’ union, Vancouver Elementary School Teachers’ Association (VESTA). I also taught in the Surrey School District from 1997-2017. I was the Assistant Director for Aboriginal Education in the Professional and Social Issues Division at the British Columbia Teachers’ Federation (BCTF) for a four-year term.

Beyond my teaching profession, I have been a member of the provincial Aboriginal Education Advisory Committee and of the Surrey Teachers’ Association’s Aboriginal Education Committee. I was also president and vice-president of the Provincial Specialist Association (PSA) Aboriginal Education Association. Lastly, I have developed and trained BCTF Professional and Social Issues workshops.

In everything I do, I find ways to incorporate the ways of the Indigenous people of what is now called BC, in particular the history and culture of Wet’suwet’en people.  As a Wet’suwet’en woman, I bring my deep, lived knowledge and experience to inform my perspective in the work I do.  My contributions reflect the commitment of BC teachers to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action.  My ultimate goal is to ensure Wet’sutwet’en people and the yintah (land and everything on it) are not silenced or wiped away from history.

Gunargie aka Ga'axstasalas

Gunargie aka Ga'axstasalas has been dedicated to community and campus radio since 1989 and attributes her knowledge to her guests and her community. The Resonating Reconciliation project was originally her idea and she helped develop the proposal. She will be working from Vancouver four days a week and email is the best way to reach her at cheryledwilliams AT gmail DOT com.

Gunargie is the founder of the shows “Late night with Savages” on CFRO-FM Vancouver Co-op Radio and “Nation to Nation” on CJSF-FM and currently produces “When Spirit Whispers” and “Sne’wayulh” at CFRO-FM. She also founded the Red Jam Slam Society, which exists to initiate celebrations, events and festivals that feature Aboriginal artists and performers and encourage grassroots and inclusive strategies to honour all Aboriginal voices. The Red Jam Slam Society is also a partner organization in the Resonating Reconciliation project. Gunargie was also the Aboriginal Representative on the NCRA Board of Directors and head of the NCRA’s Native Caucus.

Gunargie was on the Board of CFRO-FM and currently sits on the Boards of WMovers and Women’s Wellness and Cultural Centre for Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. She is a member of the Tlowitsis tribe. Gunargie is both a direct and inter-generational survivor of Indian Residential Schools, and was fostered and then adopted by the age of seven. Her inspiration to carry out this important work has changed the landscape of Aboriginal radio.

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2021