Sakaw unique and entertaining theatre event

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"Tonight we have come together. Where else can you get this? Sit beside someone you've never seen before and laugh together. We're here together, to feel, to listen and to dance. It is the way of our people...We have braided ourselves together."

And performance artist Dale Auger is a master weaver, uniting audience and performers in a unique event - Sakaw, the People called Cree, an evening of theatre and monologue with Woodland Cree from northern Alberta.

Sakaw took place in front of a capacity crowd at the Garry Theatre in Calgary Feb. 27. Participants included Dale Auger's mother Rose, a spiritual leader and healer and Bernard Omnayak, Lubicon chief. Joining Auger were the Eagle Down Dance Theatre, a company of young native girls between seven and 14, and song writer Art Napoleon.

Dale, a playwright and story teller, wove an intricate tapestry of speech and dance with the group, exhalting spirituality and the Native way.

"We have got to take responsibility in the way we want to express ourselves...and acknowledge the fact that there is a higher power - the Creator.

"When we understand our own Creator, then it becomes easy to unite and mend the voice. People coming together, understanding that inner strength, that is who we are as a people," Auger said.

The traditional role of Native women among the Sakaw, or Bush People, came to life with Rose Auger's participation. Her stirring piece urging people to unite and honor the Creator and the strength of all peoples resulted in a standing ovation on completion.

Bernard Omnayak, Lubicon Cree chief, described his people's 53-year struggle against the destruction of the environment and traditional lands. He made a plea against perpetual greed which looks at profit rather than people.

And his fight to protect the land is everyone's fight, said activist and long-time Native leader Harold Cardinal. Cardinal's writings in the 60s foresaw the Indian movement of today.

"Who will be the guardians of the forest? What happens to the forests that have protected us? Our struggle is theirs as well for who is going to clean our air when there is no more forest," he questioned.

A personal account of life in penitentiaries and mental institutions wove a sombre thread through the evening. Deny Auger, from Bigstone Cree Nation, described his personal struggle to retain his Native spirituality.

"My spirit is still here," he told the audience, touching his heart.

Sakaw was an evening of theatre, spirituality and a united voice. For the organizers it was a new way of looking to the future, for the audience it was a never-to-be-forgotten experience. Sakaw was a way "to be more responsible for ourselves as

well as our children and the place in which we live the land," said Dale Auger.

(With files from Angela Simmons)