Metis organize Aboriginal songwriting contest

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Aspiring Aboriginal songwriters will have a chance to showcase their best efforts during the first North American Aboriginal Songwriting Contest.

The contest is open to Aboriginal people of Metis, First Nations, Inuit or Hawaiian heritage who are residents of Canada or the United States.

All songs entered in the contest must have original music and lyrics and must not have been previously published or performed in public or recorded for commercial purposes.

Lyrics of song entries can be in any Aboriginal language or in English, and can be either traditional or contemporary.

Individuals can enter up to four works in the contest, but only one entry per category, and each entry must be submitted on a separate tape.

Submissions must be received at the office of the Metis Cultural Preservation Society.

The songwriting contest is organized by the Society and Paul Kia'i Modde, producer and host of a world beat radio station in Vancouver. The contest is run as a fundraiser for the newly opened Metis Cultural Museum located in the Louis Riel Metis Council office in Surrey.

Dale Haggerty, curator of the museum, said the creation of the museum started when some of the Elders decided it was time to start preserving Metis cultural history.

"And the next thing you know, a few sashes went up on the wall, and a few pictures," Haggerty said. Someone came up with the idea of converting the building into an old trading post. The inside of the building was redone with old wood, glass cases were brought in, and then people started donating artifacts from their own families. When Haggerty took over running the office in January, he asked the Elders if the displays could be opened to the public, and the museum was born.

"We've got quite a display in here," Haggerty said. People have been coming in, making donations of artifacts, and on March 13 the Archbishop from Victoria came to the museum and handed over six artifacts from the 1800s. Haggerty said the museum is trying to get funding to get more artifacts, as well as trying to get a data base to allow people to come in and find out more about their history.

"It's working. It's a slow process, but in three months we've already had probably about 1,000 people through the museum since it opened up to the public. The Metis people, when they came into the membership always came in to take a look at all our stuff, but now we get people off the street."

The museum is open Tuesday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. There is no admission charged, but people are asked to make a donation.

For more information about the Metis Cultural Museum, or the song writing contest, call Dale Haggerty at (604) 581-2522.