A Tribute to This Land – The Elder Project

This project focused on bringing communities, cultures and voices together. Anita Crowshoe and Sheri-D Wilson facilitated bringing the stories of elders to the youth and having them discover/ uncover their own history and culture in their own voice with Spoken Word Poetry.

Gathering Thoughts

On January 23, 2013 five elders (Treaty 7) gathered to speak about the project and to share their thoughts and ideas. This is an important gathering as it clarified the intention and direction of the project. Heart beat.

Elders

• Piikani Nation (Peigan)—Dr. Reg Crowshoe
• Kainai Nation (Blood)—Ruby & Martin Eaglechild
• Tsuu T’ina Nation (Sarcee)—Tom Heaven Fire
• Stoney Nation—(Nakoda Nation)—Sykes Powderface
• Siksika Nation (Blackfoot)—Clarence (Agar) Wolfleg Sr.

Telling Stories

Between February 04-08 the elders visited schools in the Calgary area where they shared their stories—of this land and people—with the students, who in turn created their own poems based on the stories. Anita Crowshoe and Sheri-D Wilson were on hand to facilitate the students. Heart beat.

Then, we honoured both the stories of the elders and also the poetry of the youth, by creating a wonderful booklet. The booklet encompassed all aspects of creative development from the original idea, through story and pictures. We emphasized: the importance of listening, the writing of poetry and the presentation of voice. The intention may be to capture the journey of creative possibility and inspiration.

The Performance and Book Launch

On Sunday, April 14, we launched the book at the opening of 2013 The Calgary Spoken Word Festival.

We distributed the booklet at events throughout the festival and 2013. And the stories became part of a special aspect of our website for people to watch and also to download.