Gawa Gyani (1991-1994)

1991-1994

About

The concept for Gawa Gyani was developed through a two-year (1991-1992) process of discussion with Gitk’san artist and writer, Doreen Jensen, the director of the Museum of Anthropology Michael Ames, and Karen Jamieson. Alice Jeffrey (Gitk’san) and Evan Adams (Coast Salish) contributed to the process, providing consultation, songs and dances.

"Sometime during our discussion, I told Karen about an ancient and still used method of Gitk'san government. When there are differences and conflicts the two sides would be called in to discuss these differences in neutral territory for just resolution. This ancient system is called 'gawa gyani' ”

Doreen Jensen Ha’hl Yee (Gitxsan)

The performance Gawa Gyani was created in 1991 through a process of collaboration between Karen Jamieson and Chief Kenneth Harris (Hagbegwatku,) hereditary chief of the Fireweed clan of the Gitksan Nation. With contributions from Margaret Harris (Maskawasew Iskewew), the Dag’m Haast Dance Group, company dancers and guest artists.

“Gawa Gyani is the most esteemed Noxnox in the house of Go’onu (Godfrey Good). The title is presently held by Edgar Good – younger brother of Go’onu. Gawa Gyani has never been used nor has it been permissible to allow strangers to use this title. However, because of a very high regard that we have for our grandson, Haxbagwootxw, (Ken Harris) Go’onu wil make an exception and will allow Ken to use the title Gawa Gyani with his story Sc’a waa”

The foregoing statement was recorded on a cassette tape Tuesday, May 21, 1991 at Kitwancol, B.C. by Chief Kenneth B. Harris (Gitxsan, Gisgahaast (Fireweed) Clan of Damelahamid and Hereditary Chief (Simoiget) of the House Hagbegwatku)

In 1994, the Karen Jamieson Dance Company and 18 performers including the Dag’m haast Dance Group from Hazelton BC toured to Tokyo, Japan to bring Gawa Gyani to the Dance Canada ‘94 festival.

Gawa Gyani is preceded by the work Mixk’ Aax because at the time of the work’s premiere, permission had not been received to name the choreography Gawa Gyani.

THE PEOPLE

credits from the Gawa Gyani performance at the museum of anthropology, july 9-14, 16, 1991:

Conception: Karen Jamieson and Doreen Jensen Ha’hl Yee (Gitsxan)

Choreography: Karen Jamieson in collaboration with the performers

Music: Jeff Corness

Gitxsan song sources: Alice Jeffrey (Gitxsan)

Narration of Sc’a Waa: Chief Kenneth B. Harris (Gitxsan, Gisgahaast (Fireweed) Clan of Damelahamid and Hereditary Chief (Simoiget) of the House Hagbegwatku)

Performers: Maureen Adams, Charlene Aleck, Daina Balodis, Byron Chief-Moon (Káínawa Nation “Blood Tribe” of the Niitsitapi, “The Blackfoot Confederacy”), Virginia Corcoran, Jeff Corness, Allan Dobbs, Anni Frazier, Chief Kenneth B. Harris (Gitxsan, Gisgahaast (Fireweed) Clan of Damelahamid and Hereditary Chief (Simoiget) of the House Hagbegwatku), Margaret Harris (Maskawasew Iskewew, Cree Nation), Rachel Harris, Kay Huang, Hiromoto Ida, Karen Jamieson, Denise Lonewalker, Catherine Lubinsky, Donald A. Morin (Saulteaux mixed lineage), Andrew Olewine, and Toby Wick

Costumes: Susan Berganzi and Christine Hatfull

Consultants: Evan Tlesla Adams (Tla'amin Nation, Coast Salish), Chief Kenneth B. Harris (Gitxsan, Gisgahaast (Fireweed) Clan of Damelahamid and Hereditary Chief (Simoiget) of the House Hagbegwatku), Alice Jeffrey (Gitxsan), Doreen Jensen Ha’hl Yee (Gitxsan)

Introduction of dance themes: Alice Jeffrey (Gitxsan)

Native song and dance sources and instruction: Evan Tlesla Adams (Tla'amin Nation, Coast Salish), Chief Kenneth B. Harris (Gitxsan, Gisgahaast (Fireweed) Clan of Damelahamid and Hereditary Chief (Simoiget) of the House Hagbegwatku), Alice Jeffrey (Gitxsan), Monica Jeffrey, Mary Johnson, Linda May Whattam

Teachers: Karen du Plesis, Earl Kraul, Gina Bastone, Yuwa Wong, Sylvie Bouchard, Katherine Labelle

Accompanists: Gillian Dolinski and Russell Shumsky

Vocal coach: Patti Allan

Stage manager: Natalie Melikian

Rehearsal assistant: France Pepin

Acknowledgments: Dr. Michael Ames, Todd Ayotte, Daniel Collins, Janet Corcoran, EDAM, Anne-Marie Fanger, Rosa Ho, UBC Museum of Anthropology, Bruce Law, Natalie Melikian, France Pepin, very special thanks to Special Delivery Moving Theatre

credits from the gawa gyani performance at the museum of anthropology, february 28-March 2, 1992:

Conception: Karen Jamieson and Doreen Jensen Ha’hl Yee (Gitxsan)

Choreography: Karen Jamieson, in collaboration with the performers of Karen Jamieson Dance Company and guest artists

Music: Jeff Corness, The Orange Love Song is from the Gitxsan people

Composition of New Gitxsan Songs: Alice Jeffrey (Gitxsan)with assistance by Jeff Corness

Other Gitxsan songs: House of Hagbegwatku

Contribution of Dance Themes, Forms: Alice Jeffrey (Gitxsan), Evan Tlesla Adams (Tla'amin Nation, Coast Salish)

Narration of Sca’a Waa: Chief Kenneth B. Harris (Gitxsan, Gisgahaast (Fireweed) Clan of Damelahamid and Hereditary Chief (Simoiget) of the House Hagbegwatku)

Costumes: Susan Berganzi and Christine Hatfull

Appearing on Tape: Celso Machado – whistles (sampled), Company – voices, sampled and recorded

Performers: Maureen Adams, Charlene Aleck, Daina Balodis, Byron Chief-Moon (Káínawa Nation “Blood Tribe” of the Niitsitapi, “The Blackfoot Confederacy”), Virginia Corcoran, Jeff Corness, Allan Dobbs, Bruce Harris, Chief Kenneth B. Harris (Gitxsan, Gisgahaast (Fireweed) Clan of Damelahamid and Hereditary Chief (Simoiget) of the House Hagbegwatku), Margaret Harris (Maskawasew Iskewew, Cree Nation), Rachel Harris, Kay Huang, Hiromoto Ida, Karen Jamieson, Denise Lonewalker, Donald A. Morin (Saulteaux mixed lineage), Heidi Nutley, Andrew Olewine, Donna Roach, Leo Roach, and Melony Wick

Instruction in Native Song and Dance: Evan Tlesla Adams (Tla'amin Nation, Coast Salish), Chief Kenneth B. Harris (Gitxsan, Gisgahaast (Fireweed) Clan of Damelahamid and Hereditary Chief (Simoiget) of the House Hagbegwatku), Alice Jeffrey (Gitxsan), Monica Jeffrey, Mary Jonson, and Linda May Whattam

Consultants: Evan Tlesla Adams (Tla'amin Nation, Coast Salish), Chief Kenneth B. Harris (Gitxsan, Gisgahaast (Fireweed) Clan of Damelahamid and Hereditary Chief (Simoiget) of the House Hagbegwatku), Alice Jeffrey (Gitxsan), and Doreen Jensen Ha’hl Yee (Gitxsan)

Production Credits: Elizabeth Muir, Colin Campbell, and Tanya Holyk

Reviews

"The work comes at you in a non-narrative torrent of images of remarkable emotional impact. Wielding sound, story and movement like so much paint, Jamieson and her collaborators flood the museum space with brilliant, whirling, rich-colored images of idea, event and adventure. The exultant, swirling conclusion, which celebrates each participant equally, leaves you reassured, satisfied ...filled with hope."

- Max Wyman
“A new telling of an old myth”
The Vancouver Province, July 10, 1991

“The cynical might suspect that collaboration between Jamieson and the Indigenous artists is just cultural appropriation by another name. They’d be wrong. Together, the artists have created a successful synthesis of cultures and secured a wider audience for both art forms.

Gawa Gyani had an advantage over the Playhouse show in that the museum’s totem poles and floor-to-ceiling windows provided a natural backdrop for the dancers. Daylight made all the difference, changing the tone and the feeling of the dance. While the Playhouse’s subdued lighting gave the piece a mystical quality, the MOA production had summer sun streaming through the skylights, drawing the audience into the story behind the ‘Sc’a waa’ myth.

The piece was all the more intense because the audience was so close to the dancers. Viewers sat on the floor surrounding the performers, close enough to smell the sweat as the dancers strained under a hot sun. Every nuance in the choreography and every subtlety in the dancers’ expressions could be seen.

Since the show was offered free with museum admission, it attracted a wide variety of tourists, many of whom seemed bemused by the dancing exhibits. But the story is compelling enough to hold the attention of even such an eclectic audience.”

- Shannon Rupp
“Karen Jamieson Dance outdoes itself with new site-specific take on Native mythology”
The Georgia Straight, July 19-26, 1991

“There are different ways to appreciate Gawa Gyani, each valid in its own right: as a modern dance, for one example, as an enactment of a venerable Gitksan history, and as an act of collaboration.

The Gitksan tradition of performance as an expression of an ancient heritage, combined with Karen Jamieson’s western tradition of contemporary dance, has resulted in a truly bi-cultural production, a precedent setting example of cross-cultural collaboration between creative people and their genres.

A project as complex as this one could not occur without controversy surrounding it, of course, but this is viewed as a healthy sign for it reflects widespread interest in important issues.

Because the dancers are not able to eat before performing, guests are asked in lieu of admission fee, to bring a pot luck dish for the open reception which follows.”

- Three Rivers Report
“Dance troup performance unites modern, traditional”
April 8, 1992

Gawa Gyani - Japan Tour - 1994
Film by Donald Morin - Filmmaker and performer in Gawa Gyani

This edit was produced 1995 on the old Amiga Commodore 2000 desktop editing system with a Sony S-VHS insert Editing machine. Original footage was recorded with a SONY TR 101 Hi-8 video Camera which died long time ago. Being how life was then, I lost my SONY editing deck from a B&E in 1996, and after that period of life, I never secured another one. The S-VHS deck (Panasonic) I had after would not play all the sound from the edit and other decks I had over years as well would not play complete sound.

Well, finally, this year with the new Corporation Eagles Feather Film & Music Manufacturing Corporation, a SHARP VHS deck with 19 Micron heads was able to playback all the audio of the Master VHS edit.

SO here is a hybrid tape performance documentation of the three days of performances in one playback period of time switching.
Internet Premiere Nov 12th, 2019, by Donald Morin of The Indigenous Literacy Manufacturing Company and The Eagles Feathers Film and Music Manufacturing Corporation. Editor/Producer Donald Morin of donaldmorinfilms.com and tilmcom.ca Copyright 2019