Canoe Journey: Evening Community Event – Tony Louie Concert with James Pakootas

7:00pm – 8:30pm

The day’s Canoe Journey events end with an evening concert featuring the singing and songwriting of Tony Louie and a multi-media spoken word piece “Coming Home” by James Pakootas and CarliAnn Forthun Bruner. (see below for synopsis and bios)

Emcee: Eden DuPont introducing the events and MLA, Brittny Anderson
Welcome by Shelly Boyd and Cindy Marchand
Spoken word artist: James Pakootas with guest CarliAnn Forthun Bruner “Scattered Roots”
Award- winning singer-songwriter and spoken word poet: Tony Louie

Sponsors: Columbia Power Corporation, West Kootenay Regional Arts Council, Nelson Museum, Archives and Gallery, The Capitol Theatre, Real Estate Foundation of BC, The Nelson Chamber of Commerce, Lalin Vocal Ensemble, Nelson Kootenay Lake Tourism, VIDEA, BC Arts Council, The City of Nelson, Canadian Heritage, The Hume Hotel, Save On Foods, Safeway, The Wholesale Club, and Positive Apparel.

“Coming Home” Synopsis:

“Coming Home” is a story about James Pakootas and CarliAnn Forthun Bruner. James is an enrolled member of The Colville Confederated Tribes. CarliAnn is a Colville Tribal descendant. James was raised on The Colville Indian Reservation, but CarliAnn was not. Both live and feel disconnected from their lands, their ways, and their stories. Each of their family lineages reaches deep into the Pacific Northwest territory as well as across the U.S. – Canadian border. Neither of them have connections to those relatives above the 49th Parallel. Together, they explore the meaning of their own Indigeneity that will shape a new future for their peoples as they craft a stage production about their tribal history, their family, their resilience, their reconnection, and their lives.

Being Native, having multiple government entities separate, indoctrinate, and assimilate our families, and the development of the blood quantum system are all nuanced conversations. We live in a society that polarizes conversations and compartmentalizes our existence. Our truth and reality is: we have Natives living on both sides of the border, both sides of the blood degree line, and both sides of our reservation borders. Both sides of these issues have countless human beings trying to reconnect to our traditional ways of life but the ongoing effects of intergenerational trauma, and in some cases, lateral violence keeps us from reconnecting with each other.

“Coming Home” operates at the intersection of film, dance, music, Indigenous culture, spoken word poetry, and hip-hop storytelling.

Artist Bios:

The Scattered Roots Collective tells stories by weaving poetry, dance, film, and music at the intersection of Indigenous worldviews and contemporary art. James Pakootas and CarliAnn Forthun Bruner invite audiences to experience Western theater through a deeply enriching cultural lens. The duo combines the past, present, and future into a timeless Indigenous story of hope and connection to the natural world. “Coming Home” is a multimedia stage production that explores what it means to be Indigenous by presenting stories of intergenerational trauma into new cycles of intergenerational healing.

Performance venue:

The Capitol Theatre

421 Victoria Street
Nelson, BC V1L 5R2
Phone: (250) 352-6363