Local Journalism Initiative
By Nora O’Malley, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Ha-Shilth-Sa
Vancouver Island, BC – For the second year running, 2 Rivers Remix Society (2RMX) and VirtualFeast.ca are bringing a free Indigenous music, art and culture festival to three communities on Vancouver Island.
Dubbed ‘Movable Feast’, the Island tour launches on Saturday, Aug. 23 in the Toquaht Nation community of Macoah in western Barkley Sound, followed by Ahousaht on Tuesday, Aug. 26, and ending in ‘Yalis (Alert Bay) on Saturday, Aug. 30.
“Our island trek reaffirms the connections of our ocean water peoples as it was before colonization.”
Meeka Morgan, Artistic Director of 2RMX
Attendees can expect to see live contemporary music performances alongside traditional songs and dances, with food and market vendors at each Movable Feast event. Each Movable Feast opens at noon with a welcoming ceremony from the local nations and elders, as well as a special opening ceremony by Mexika-Tenochka artists Ana Cornejo and Leo Vara.
“Our island trek reaffirms the connections of our ocean water peoples as it was before colonization,” said 2RMX artistic director Meeka Morgan in a media release.
“It is a living example of how difficult it is for our people to gather since being forcibly placed onto inaccessible lands. Yet, through this journey we bring together inter-nation relatives, friends, allies, and survivors of residential schools, many of whom have not seen one another in over 60 years, all through music and art, which are integral to our ways and values as Indigenous peoples on Mother, the Earth… as it was before,” said Morgan, who is of Toquaht and Secwépemc descent and a member of the hip hop group The Melawmen Collective.
The tour showcases a talented line-up of Indigenous artists from Canada and beyond, including: multi-instrumentalist, singer-songwriter, two-time 2024 JUNO Winner Aysanabee (Oji-Cree), Leonard Sumner, an Anishnaabe poet and singer/songwriter from Little Saskatchewan First Nation, and the resident elder artist and Inuvialuit folk-rock legend Willie Thrasher and Linda Saddleback.
“Thrasher was born in Aklavik, Northwest Territories, in 1948 and at five years of age, Thrasher was taken from his family and sent to a residential school where he was forbidden to practice his Inuvialuit culture. Music was a way for Thrasher to escape the pain and longing,” reads his artists’ bio.
Local Nuu-chah-nulth performers include Hasaatuk (Nuu-chah-nulth/Cree) and Kiva MH (Nuu-Chah-Nulth/Secwépemc). Each festival will close with a live DJ set; ‘Yalis will see DJ Kookum (Alexis Nakota Sioux Nation), Ahousaht and Toquaht will see Handsome Tiger (Anishinaabe/Métis/North African).
Movable Feast/2RiversRemix stems from Lytton, B.C., a community that has a large Indigenous population with half the town on federal reserve lands.
“We saw the need for an all-Indigenous led and centred event where survivors feel safe and the inter-generations can witness one another’s artist expressions in a really high-quality production,” Morgan shared in a past interview with the Ha-Shilth-Sa.
2RMX was going strong for two years until the COVID-19 pandemic came along, and that’s when they started the livestreaming and pre-recording.
“And then 2021 came and the fire took out the whole town,” Morgan continued.
She said they lost all their equipment, art exhibitions, everything.
“Their idea was to hit every First Nation in B.C., or as many as possible, and to do cultural sharing in community with community as one day and the next day being the music festival.”
Sadler, Event Promoter
“That would have ended most organizations,” said Sadler.
Instead, 2RMX completely re-invented themselves into the Movable Feast, “a nimble and small-roving music festival with a commitment to sustainability”, as event promoter Sadler describes. Movable Feast uses a fleet of electric vehicles and an LED wall for lighting.
“It’s amazing,” said Sadler. “Their idea was to hit every First Nation in B.C., or as many as possible, and to do cultural sharing in community with community as one day and the next day being the music festival.”
She encouraged folks to pre-register for the free Indigenous concerts by visiting VirtualFeast.ca, where the performances will also be livestreamed to promote accessibility.
