Theatre group tackles racism with fun
By Sabrina Whyatt
WIKWEMIKONG, Ont.
The De-Ba-Jeh-Mu-Jig Theatre Group is certainly doing its part in bringing recognition to the Wikwemikong Unceded Indian Reserve on Manitoulin Island.
The group of performers taking the main stage this summer will likely attract a wide audience, with performances like Sky and Please do not touch the Indians.
"We are receiving a lot of support from our chief and the community as a whole," said Audrey Debassige, who is training to be associate artistic director for the group.
The theatre group performs in various communities and schools and at events addressing controversial Native issues.
"We deal with all sorts of things, like racism, drug and alcohol abuse, and land claims. There's a lot of drama mixed with comedy. We also try to mix traditional storytelling with contemporary theatre," said Debassige.
The four staff members, eight-person voluntary board of directors and several contractors forming the group are actively involved in the community, particularly with youth.
"We are workshop facilitators helping youth discover their voice and helping other youth bring out issues in their community through theatre," she explained.
As well, the group has teamed up with Family Life Theatre of Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., exploring creative means of tackling racism, primarily focusing on Native - non-Native relations. Six actors - three Native, three non-Native, an improvisation coach, a social worker/theatre director and a mediator - make up the team called The Peace Tree Project.
The group's worked to study racism in both Native and non-Native communities. Then they developed a performance piece where the audience observes experiences relating to racism.
"We found that differences can make us stupid, if we do not take the time to understand them from the point of view of the other person or people. We could also see that there is a big difference between our good intentions and the behavior we demonstrate to make the good intentions amount to something. The behavior is what we misunderstand. The intentions we can assume are good," she said.
"One very present thing in Canada now, is that non-Native no longer means just white. To be non-Native in Canada now, is to be just about any other race in the world," Debassige said.