Sliding scale $0-$20 / Pay at the door only / Limited Seating / First Come First Serve

604-628-5672,

www.vancouvermovingtheatre.com

heartofthecityfestival.com

vafcs.org

 

Twining together stories, poems and personal memories

With oral histories woven from cultural teachings,

West Coast dances and the ancient bone game of Slahal.

 

A cast of aboriginal artists, elders, dancers and Downtown Eastside community members help an old man- The Old One – open up to his life’s journey, his regrets and hopes, through the teachings of the medicine wheel. His journey home gives voice to experiences of the urban aboriginal community, to voices not heard, to lives left behind. Over the course of the Old One’s journey, ancestral memories emerge of the history of the Coast Salish area shared by many peoples.  Songs, dances and stories are shared about traditional roles, protocols and ways of seeing and doing.

 

We hear echoes of the salmon fishing industry’s decline, of families broken up by the residential school system and family members who have disappeared. And we hear stories of resilience:  Aboriginal men and women who arrived in Vancouver looking for work; the founding of the Coqualeetza Fellowship and Aboriginal Friendship Centre; and what it means to be Aboriginal today, meeting the challenges of walking in the world of the ancestors and the world of today.

 

Storyweaving is about giving voice to those that have lived within and around the Canadian legislation of the Indian Act.  And so many of us moved to the city of Vancouver and found a home here.  Our social justice and educational efforts from the 1950’s through to today continue to reflect our passion for life, love, and harmony. Storyweaving is about our hopes for a good future, guided by the principles of our cultural past.                                                                                                                                Renae Morriseau

 

Featuring, among others: Bob Baker, Sam Bob, Jenifer Brousseau, Nick Dangeli, Mike and Mique’l Dangeli, Craig Edes, Wes Nahanee, Woody Morrison, Quelemia Sparrow, Susan Tatoosh, Marge C. White, Loni Williams, Spakwus Slulum Dancers, Git Hayetsk Dancers, and Downtown Eastside performers Sue Blue, Brenda Prince, Steven Lytton, Priscillia Tait, Muriel “X” Williams.

 

Terry Hunter (Producer), Carrie Campbell (Production Manager), Jeff Harrison (Lighting), Liisa Hannus (Stage Manager), Raeanne Elkins (Assistant Stage Manager), Cowboy Smithx (videographer).

 

Written by Renae Morriseau (Director) with Rosemary Georgeson and Savannah Walling with contributions by Downtown Eastside urban Aboriginal artists  and from the 2003 Downtown Eastside Community Play (Renae Morriseau, James Fagan Tait, Savannah Walling & Adrienne Wong).

 

Storyweaving has been made possible with the support of the Canada Council for the Arts, BC Arts Council, Government of BC through Gaming,

City of Vancouver Cultural Services, City of Vancouver Great Beginnings Program, BCGEU, TELUS Community Board and media sponsor Georgia Straight.

Thanks also to our community partner Indian Residential School Survivors Society.

 

 

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With a new library onsite, residents can improve their literacy and life skills through positive peer community engagement. Sharing books and new found knowledge brings friends closer together at the Bosman.

Over 100 people will now have access to books and resources to help enrich and support their lives.

Many thanks to the wonderful support from Angelika Sellick , Literacy Outreach Coordinator of  DTES Adult Literacy Roundtable and Megan Langley of Carnegie Centre Library.

Plans to build the Bosman library started a few months ago and our first donations have begun to arrive.

The official opening of the library is scheduled for Thursday 24 May 2012.

Located in the former Bosman’s Motor Hotel in downtown Vancouver, the Bosman is an important part of the Mental Health Commission’s At Home / Chez Soi initiative – the largest research project of its kind in the world studying mental illness and homelessness. In Vancouver, At Home / Chez Soi is focusing on people who also have substance abuse and addiction issues, and over the next four years will provide housing and support to 300 homeless mentally ill people in the city.

Liz Evans, Executive Director, PHS Community Services Society, said: “The Bosman project offers hope because it embraces the very values our society strives for – one that is inclusive and one that says that every life matters and every individual deserves a chance to be their best self. The Bosman is an exciting start to acknowledging that we can live in a community, in a city and in a country where fellow human beings living with a mental illness do not have to be sleeping on our streets.”

At Home/Chez Soi: Largest research project of its kind in the world

At Home/Chez Soi is a ground‐breaking national research project in five cities -Vancouver, Winnipeg, Toronto,Montreal and Moncton – to find the best way to provide housing and services to people who are living with mental illness and homelessness. Using a ‘Housing First‘ approach, the research project focuses on first providing people who are homeless with a place to live, and then the other assistance and services they require. The goal is to see if this approach is better than traditional care.

The research will help make Canada a world leader in providing better services to people living with homelessness and mental illness.

For more information on the At Home/Chez Soi project, please visithttp://www.mentalhealthcommission.ca/English/Pages/homelessness.aspx (English)

orhttp://www.mentalhealthcommission.ca/Francais/Pages/Litinerance.aspx (French).

The Mental Health Commission of Canada is a non-profit organization created to focus national attention on mental health issues and to work to improve the health and social outcomes of people living with mental illness.  In February 2008, the federal government allocated $110 million to the MHCC to find ways to help the growing number of people who are homeless and have a mental illness.  For more, visit www.mentalhealthcommission.ca.

The PHS Community Services Society provides affordable, low-barrier supportive housing and services to marginalized people, many of whom suffer from mental illness, physical disabilities and addictions. These services include a supervised injection facility, detoxification and addiction recovery services, an art gallery, life skills training, low threshold employment and banking.

Vancouverites have two Vaisakhi Parades to choose from: the Vancouver Vaisakhi Parade happening on April 14, 2012, which attracts about 50,000 spectators, and the annual Surrey Vaisakhi Parade and Celebration on April 21, 2012, which attracts 80,000 – 200,000, making it one of the largest Vaisakhi parades outside India.