We were invited to perform at Tartan and Red Serge: A Canadian Celtic Showcase at the Shenkman Arts Centre alongside the RCMP Pipes, Drums and Dancers, the MacLeod Fiddlers, Highland dancers, musicians, and fiddler Chad Wolfe.
As Indigenous youth, we spent a lot of time reflecting about what it meant for us to take part in this event.
The relationship between Indigenous peoples and the RCMP has not always been a good one. There is real pain in that history, and many families still carry it today. We do not forget that, and we do not pretend those harms did not happen.
At the same time, reconciliation is not something that happens all at once. It happens slowly, through relationships, conversations, listening, accountability, and respectful human connection.
For us, this evening was not about erasing history or pretending the work is finished. It was an opportunity to come together with people from different backgrounds and to create space for understanding through the arts. We believe that music and dance can create opportunities for dialogue and connection in ways that words alone cannot.
Dance carries more than motion and music, it carries history, resilience, joy, and connection. Every time we dance, we honour the generations before us who kept these traditions alive despite generations of colonial policies meant to erase them. Bringing those traditions onto stages like this matters.
Healing the divide between Indigenous peoples and institutions like the RCMP will take time. It will take honesty, action, and many generations of continued work. But we also believe that respectful moments of connection matter. Every conversation matters. Every opportunity to gather together with openness and humanity matters.
Thank you to everyone who came to support the event and to all the performers who shared the stage with us. We are grateful for opportunities to continue sharing Métis culture, building understanding, and creating space for dialogue, respect, and hope for the generations coming after us.
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