Through dance, Justin Many Fingers is channelling the strength and resilience of Indigenous women
Lise Hosein | CBC Arts | Posted: May 23, 2019 6:45 PM | Last Updated: May 23, 2019
In OKOTOKS, he returns to the story of the 1870 Baker Massacre — and the legacy of one of its survivors
On January 23, 1870 in Blackfoot territory in Montana, hundreds of Indigenous people were murdered in a raid by the United States Army in an event that came to be known as the Baker Massacre. One of the survivors was Holy Bear Woman, who was 12 years old when the Massacre happened.
Now, her story has been revived in OKOTOKS — a production helmed by Justin Many Fingers, the artistic director of Making Treaty 7, with the collaboration of a host of powerful performers.
Watch the video:
In this video made by filmmakers Laura O'Grady and Chris Kreiger, you'll meet Justin Many Fingers as he works through a powerful rehearsal in preparation for the launch of the show (which was also his debut as a director). And as he directs some of the most emotive moments in the performance, he tells you why OKOTOKS is so important to him.
As he explains: "There are so many of us who come from her blood, from her genes. And that one young woman now has a bloodline of almost 200 people. So if you look at that one person of a bloodline up to today of 200 people, where could we have been with the other 316 others who were massacred of that one camp?"
Making Treaty 7's new season opens this fall with a play written and directed by Justin Many Fingers. It's called 509, and it will be at The GRAND in Calgary, October 9-15. Find out more about Making Treaty 7 here.
Stream CBC Arts: Exhibitionists or catch it on CBC Television Friday nights at 11:30pm (12am NT) and Sundays at 3:30pm (4pm NT). Watch more videos here.