Heather Phipps, affiliate BILD member, is now at the University of Regina. We have missed Heather’s blog posts, and look forward to more.
The dramatic musical production of Riel’s Heart of the North had its world premiere on March 9th, 2019 in Regina, Saskatchewan. This creative work by Métis poet Dr. Suzanne Steele (Gaudry) and composer Neil Weisensel tells the story of Louis Riel (Métis) and in particular “focuses on the beauty and love of the homeland and of its people, the heart of the north”. In the programme for the performance, Dr. Suzanne Steele refers to drawing inspiration from the Métis feminist scholar Dr. Sherry Farrell Racette’s (2004) doctoral dissertation “Sewing ourselves together: clothing, decorative arts and the expression of Métis and Half Breed identity”. Dr. Suzanne Steele’s (2019) creative work highlights the important role of Michif women in “sewing together” our country. Steele notes: “I devised the central themes of this work—the creating, the mending, the sewing, of the wounded of this world, but most importantly the beauty that comes from the love our women’s hands – this I celebrated.”
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