This theatre project reveals Alberta's untold history — and it's touring Canada for the first time

What do you really know about Canadian history? Back in 2013, when Michelle Thrush and the team behind Making Treaty 7 were developing their show, they did an informal poll. "We'd do this thing where we'd take a microphone out on 8th Avenue in Calgary," Thrush remembers, and they'd ask everyone they met the same thing: "What do you know about Treaty 7?"

The document, Treaty 7, is understood to have laid the groundwork for the settlement of Alberta. "And 90 per cent of the people we talked to had no idea," she says. They had no idea they were living in Treaty 7 territory. They had no idea who signed that document on Sept. 22, 1877 — or that the First Nations leaders who gathered at Blackfoot Crossing had a critically different understanding of the treaty's terms than the Crown officials who wrote it up. They had no idea of the ensuing sense of betrayal, and how the consequences of Treaty 7 are felt today.

"There's just a lot of misconceptions through the years between the Indigenous and the settler community that unfortunately has ended up with people — people don't understand things," says Thrush. And that's why Making Treaty 7 is going on tour this summer.

"When we go to Winnipeg, we hope to influence them to do Making Treaty 1."- Michelle Thrush, co-director of

In Calgary, the show has become a theatre tradition, playing every year to sold-out crowds since its debut in 2014. The late Michael Green (One Yellow Rabbit) began working on the project in 2012. Thrush, who was part of its original development committee, is the co-director of the production with One Yellow Rabbit's Blake Brooker. This summer, it will play outside the province for the first time, first hitting Winnipeg (June 15) and then Ottawa (June 20) as part of the National Arts Centre's Canada Scene festival.

The production is a combination of re-enactment and theatrical revue, but it imparts a history lesson that's never fully been told. "We as a country have never truly known the history of the Indigenous voice. And I believe that's what Making Treaty 7 is about," she says.

Work on the production began with consulting "80 or 90 elders" from the Treaty 7 First Nations community. "The key component for us was there's been a lot of history coming from academia, coming from the settler point of view of southern Alberta, but there's never been the true spirit and intent of what the treaty meant to the Indigenous people." Their accounts, Thrush explains, inspired the vignettes found in Making Treaty 7 — intertwined works of dance, theatre, music and poetry. The company features both Indigenous and non-Indigenous artists, including former Calgary poet laureate Kris Demeanor, dancer Troy Emery Twigg and Thrush herself. The Gemini-winning actress (Blackstone) is Cree, and was born and raised in Calgary. And the show itself evolves every year, she says — adding new voices and new scenes to reflect the times.

We will always be looking at what that conversation is between the Indigenous and the settler point of view and how can we contribute to the solutions of creating a better Canada for our kids and our kids' kids.- Michelle Thrush, co-director of

And while Making Treaty 7 focuses on one region's story, bringing it to the rest of Canada was always part of the vision for the project.

"I believe every area of Canada is able to truly identify," says Thrush. "Though it's called Making Treaty 7, we hope to influence other areas. When we go to Winnipeg, we hope to influence them to do Making Treaty 1." And, indeed, the day following their performance at the at the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre, the company will lead arts workshops with Indigenous youth in the city.

"We want to influence other treaty areas to explore the history of their area," she explains. "What was the history between settler and Indigenous people prior to the treaty, during the treaty, after the treaty and present day?"

"That's basically what Making Treaty 7 is about," she continues. "It's this cacophony of many voices that have come together, and they're influenced by the Indigenous stories of that territory."

"[It] will change and evolve and shift constantly but we will always be looking at what that conversation is between the Indigenous and the settler point of view and how can we contribute to the solutions of creating a better Canada for our kids and our kids' kids."
 

Making Treaty 7. Directed by Michelle Thrush and Blake Brooker. June 15 at Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre, Winnipeg. June 20 at the National Arts Centre. www.makingtreaty7.com.