Local singing group heads to Washington

Alberta will be featured at the world-famous Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington, DC from June 30 to July 11 and an Aboriginal singing group will be one of the star performers at the event. The first time a Canadian province has been the feature exhibit, more than 1.5 million people are expected to attend and media coverage will showcase the event to the world.

Sarah Pocklington, Sherryl Sewepagaham, and Debbie Houle of the a cappella singing group Asani are excited to be included in the 120 Alberta singers, musicians, storytellers, craftspeople and occupational specialists representing their home province.

"We are leaving on June 25 to participate in Alberta Week, which runs for several days before the festival actually begins," said Pocklington. "We'll be bringing greetings from the city of Edmonton to a reception being held that day and have several other engagements booked already as well." The group is thrilled at the honor of representing not only Alberta but also the Aboriginal community.

"We've performed at the 2005 World Masters Games, the rodeo, Alberta centennial celebrations, as well as a lot of fundraisers and government functions," said Pocklington, adding that all three members take their turn at playing drum and rattle and contributing lead vocals and harmony.
"We've also performed at the Milwaukee Indian Summer Festival and a number of folk festivals, including one in Finland."

In January, the group was featured in Cannes, France at the Midem International Music Market as part of the first official Canadian showcase at the world-renown festival. All the women are juggling busy careers and family lives with their singing.

Asani means "rock" in the Cree language and is a reflection of the hearts and souls of the women who originally formed the group, to signify their strengths as individuals, and their hard work in creating and fostering their ideals. The three first met when Grant McEwan College formed an Aboriginal choir in 1997. Houle and Sewepagaham were part of the original group and Pocklington joined in 1998.

"We sing a real fusion of music, because we are a blend of traditional and contemporary genres, with blues, folk and jazz often present as well. We combine a western influence with our heritage," she said. "The traditional element is evident in the drums and rattles that we use and some songs are clearly influenced by our Aboriginal roots."

As a Metis with Cree heritage, she enjoys the creative and self-expressive aspect of her work.
"We write all our own songs," she said. "It's been a true blessing to have the opportunity to participate in the process and it's a lot of fun." Pocklington is a graduate of the vocal program at MacEwan College, and has also taken courses in dance, drama and percussion.

Sherryl Sewepagaham also enjoys harmonizing, singing lead vocals, and playing the drum and rattle with the group. Originally from the Little Red River Cree Nation in northern Alberta, she began singing at a young age and went on to study classical voice and piano at the Alberta College Conservatory of Music in Edmonton. She has also completed a bachelor of education degree in music.

"Sherryl and Debbie (Houle) are hugely talented musically and have great voices," said Pocklington.

"Sherryl has a real gift for creating and composing music that has a strong traditional influence. For example, she took the drum beat from the tea dance and created a song called Eskwesis, which means little girl." The powerful song is dedicated to the Aboriginal women who have left us tragically, she added.

Houle is also a Cree Metis, born in Edmonton and raised in the Elizabeth Metis Settlement in northeast Alberta.

"Debbie has been singing since the age of five," said Pocklington.

"She has an amazing, rich voice and is a great arranger as well. She has a song on the CD we are recording in July that addresses the boil-water advisory that's currently in the news in so many Aboriginal communities. We're not afraid to take on social issues in our songs, even onto the international stage." On an earlier CD, the group sang the Bill C-31 Blues, which brought awareness of the controversial effects of the 1985 legislation that re-enfranchised treaty rights for women, among others, who lost their status because of a discriminatory section of the Indian Act.
While in Washington, the women have been asked to perform at the Kennedy Centre, and are doing a piece with the Alberta Ballet, which has selected one of their songs to interpret, said Pocklington.

"We've been told to expect lots of media interviews and other performances, as many as three per day, once we get there."

The members of Asani say they really love what they do.

"We enjoy performing. We sang our version of O Canada in Ottawa last year in front of a million people," Pocklington said.

"We are feeling honored and privileged that we have been chosen to participate in the Washington folklife festival. We all love Alberta and are proud to represent everyone back home."