May 18TH-20TH
This weekend was pretty contained to Sugar Island, we didn’t go many places but people came to us and the solidarity helped us bond together as an ensemble.
During these three days we participated in a Weekend Writing Workshop which was lead primarily by our brilliant team member Jillian Waker who gave us all prompts and time to write. I think generally everyone was impressed and surprised by what was produced during this process. We all felt like we learned so much about each other through our writing and the distinct ways we chose to reply to the prompts. Some pieces were classic poetic narratives, some were random bits of songs and phrases, some poetry, strictly dialogue, you name it! It was really amazing to watch that creativity boil in my group. It was also a great way to release and reflect on life and self.
Later Saturday evening, Cecil came by and made a fire for us. After we gifted tobacco to the fire and saved ourselves, Cecil told us more about the history of the Anishinaabe and we shared the history of ourselves. It was incredibly beautiful.
On Sunday we continued with the writing prompts this time we were joined by Spencer, Michael, and Tomantha. Afterwards, Tomantha demonstrated for us her Fancy Shawl Dance which she sometimes performs at pow wow. In her dance, she tries to replicate the delicacy and flight of a butterfly. It was so awesome to watch, she’s really good at it.