Brian visited 杏吧原创 University to conduct a Research Talk on October 19, 2023.

The research talk was hosted virtually through Zoom and was moderated by 膧nako Research Facilitator Naomi Bird.听听听

鈥淭heatre is a colonial art form. It’s not from here, from this country, it came from across the big water,鈥� said Favel.听

Favel shared that the Canadian context was different when he started his studies. He talked about emerging from a country that hid its oppression of Indigenous peoples. Favel applied to theatre programs in Canadian institutions but was not accepted because of his Indigenous identity, accent, visual identity and geographic remoteness. Instead, he said he had no option but to travel abroad to continue his training.听

鈥淚f I could silence my nostalgia, I would have never returned, but here I am in the prison of my country,鈥� said Favel.听

Performers at the Poundmaker Indigenous Performance Festival in 2022. (Source: )

Favel studied theatre internationally in Denmark and Italy, and it was during his time away from Canada that he chose to dedicate his studies to the development of a performance process built from Indigenous ceremony and storytelling. Favel said he was inspired by in Toga, Japan, who challenged theatre performed in the typical colonial manner and created a theatre method based on pre-colonial Japanese performance and movement. Favel said he could apply a similar practice to create an Indigenous performance process using storytelling as the foundation.听

Every nation, Favel said, has their own image and narrative processes, but for his research, Favel chose to focus on two Indigenous storytelling structures to derive a theatre process through their framework.

Dancer performing at the Poundmaker Indigenous Performance Festival in 2022. (Source: Miyawata Culture Inc.)

(PISL) is a gesture-based language that was once used across Turtle Island to facilitate communication between different language communities but is now endangered.听

鈥淭here is something inside [PISL] that we can use for future generations,鈥� Favel said. 鈥淚t was a hidden and dying language, not only that, not only to revive it, but to be used in the development of Indigenous performance method.鈥澨�听

PISL plays an important role in Favel鈥檚 research as well as in the annual directed by Favel. Attendees can learn up to 100 words and phrases of PISL during the workshops.听

Favel鈥檚 students at 杏吧原创 (Indigenous Storytelling as Research Methodology [CDNS 5003 B/INDG 4901 B]) have also been learning PISL and exploring how it can aid in the creation of Indigenous theatre practices. In his presentation, Favel shows a video example of a student project using gesture and movement in their performance.听

This Lakota calendar, or winter count, displays pictographs of key events from the years. (Source: )

Favel is also looking at Waniyetu Wowapi, or winter count, for another form of Indigenous performance methodology. 听is a Lakota storytelling practice used to document time through pictographs.

PISL and Winter Count are Indigenous systems, created for and by Indigenous people, that can be starting points to understanding Indigenous theatre processes and methods, Favel said.

Favel said everything he teaches is derived from Indigenous systems and methods. Indigenous performance, said Favel, has its own body of knowledge and practices that are open to everyone and not defined by colonial identity.听

To learn more, watch the recording of Floyd Favel鈥檚 research talk below and visit his to learn more about the Poundmaker Indigenous Performance Festival:听

Through this presentation, Neilson addresses concerns about how light pollution, satellites and exclusion from decision-making tables have separated Indigenous Peoples from the night sky. 听

Indigenous Peoples and their knowledge have been mostly excluded from astronomy. Neilson asks listeners to consider: who has a right to the night sky?听

Neilson is a Mi’kmaw interdisciplinary scientist whose research explores the intersection of science, astronomy and Indigenous knowledge. Hosted by the 膧nako Indigenous Research Institute and the Faculty of Science, his talk was followed by a discussion with students from the . 听

Neilson featured images from a children’s book that tells the traditional Mi鈥檏maw story of Muin and the Seven Bird Hunters. ()

Neilson says we are connected to the land, just as we are to the night sky, so our access to the night sky has an impact in the same way Indigenous communities are affected when they are displaced from their land. 听

Neilson talks of the power light pollution and satellites have in limiting our view of outer space. He asks listeners if treaty rights to land stop at a certain height limit. Through that lens, he says Indigenous people have a right to an unobstructed view of the night sky.听

鈥淥ur view of the night sky is colonized,鈥� says Neilson. 鈥淥ur view of the constellations become colonized because when we teach students in the classroom, we鈥檙e teaching them about Orion, Ursa Major, Cassiopeia, all wonderful constellations, but they鈥檙e not Mi鈥檏maq constellations, Inuit constellations.鈥�听

Neilson says outer space is often considered a commons that everyone has a right to share, but it begs us to consider who has had access to the night sky and who is making decisions about it.听

听Indigenous Peoples have been charting the movements of stars and planets for generations, as seen in the and . 听

Neilson encourages scientists to rethink the commonly accepted perspective that space is lifeless, and the moon is just a rock. He says astronomy must embrace Indigenous knowledge and methods as part of its future in space and astronomy.听

鈥淭his view comes from the same idea as constellations as stick figures,鈥� Neilson says. 听

To learn more about space as part of the land, listen to the full recording of Neilson鈥檚 Research Talk here:听

Additional Resources 听

The following sources provide further related reading: 听

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Monday, March 14, 2022

Join Visiting Indigenous Scholar Tasha Beeds in a discussion on Indigenous grassroots academic research approaches. In this talk, Tasha will share some of her experiences as an Indigenous land and water activator who brought Indigenous knowledges, intellectual traditions, and spiritual understandings into her doctoral research.

Dr. Henry Lickers and Biology professors from 杏吧原创 University and the University of Ottawa informally discuss the connections and relations between Western Science and Indigenous Science. This meaningful discussion is meant to reframe thinking regarding Indigenous Science and help to promote dialogue between universities and local Indigenous Nations.

Join inaugural visiting scholar Tasha Beeds as she discusses Indigenous communities and research!

“Indigenous communities, movement, or in this case “research,” seldom occurs in isolation; Instead, it inherently reflects our interconnectedness with each other and with the rest of Creation. With this understanding, everything we do links back not only to our people but also to the Lands, Waters, and all living beings through a continuum that stretches back to our Ancestors and to our future. Ethics, in an academic context is usually applied to living beings; however, within Indigeneity, the concept of living is extended beyond the human realm. As such, the concept of ethics takes on new dimensions.”

In this talk, Tasha Beeds discusses the different Indigenous Research Methods present in today’s time. Join us in engaging further with Indigenous Research Methods as this lecture series is presented by Anako’s visiting scholars.