Walking Through The Fire concert featuring Indigenous artists with Sultans of String set for April 12 in East Toronto

What do Indigenous artists Duke Redbird, Lisa Odjig, Shannon Thunderbird, Marc Meriläinen, Alyssa Delbaere-Sawchuk, Northern Cree Powwow group and roots band Sultans of String have in common?

They have all come together in the spirit of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s 94 Calls to Action and Final Report that calls for Indigenous and non-Indigenous artists to work together to find a path forward, and have created Walking Through the Fire, a concert show of powerful collection of collaborations between the roots group and First Nations, Métis, and Inuit artists from across Turtle Island.

On Saturday, April 12, at 8 p.m., the Kingston Road Village Concert Series will bring the magic of this collaboration to the Beach with a one-night-only concert at Kingston Road United Church. Those who purchase VIP tickets are also invited to a pre-concert reception to meet the artists.

Sultans violinist and Beach enthusiast Chris McKhool, who was recently awarded the Dr. Duke Redbird Lifetime Achievement Award by Duke Redbird for working to amplify these truths through collaborations, said, “This country has a history that has been ignored, distorted, twisted to suit colonialist goals of destroying a people. We are so fortunate for the opportunity to work with Indigenous artists, sharing their stories, their experiences, and their lives with us, so we can continue our work of learning about the history of residential schools, genocide, and intergenerational impacts of colonization. Music has a special capacity for healing, connecting, and expressing truth.”

Walking Through the Fire has been described as a musical multimedia experience, incorporating Métis fiddling to an East Coast Kitchen Party, rumba to rock, to the drumming of the Pacific Northwest, and is a chance to experience the beauty and diversity of music from Turtle Island with Elder Duke Redbird, two-time world champion hoop dancer Lisa Odjig, Alyssa Delbaere-Sawchuk of the Métis Fiddler Quartet, Ojibwe/Finnish Singer-Songwriter Marc Meriläinen (Nadjiwan), Coast Tsm’syen Singer-Songwriter Shannon Thunderbird, plus virtual guests joining in on the big screen including the Northern Cree Powwow group and others.

A central theme running through Walking Through The Fire is the need for the truth of Indigenous experience to be told before reconciliation can begin in earnest. Embedded in the title of the show is the energy of rebirth: fire destroys, but it also nourishes the soil to create new growth, beauty, and resiliency.

Together these artists are making a safe, creative space where new connections can be dreamed of – not in the Western way of thinking and problematizing – but instead a deeper sharing and understanding, with music being the common ground to help cultures connect and understand each other.

“We are opening doors for each other, as Indigenous peoples, as settler peoples. This project is about creating connections and spaces to learn from each other,” explained collaborator Alyssa Delbaere-Sawchuk, violist with Métis Fiddler Quartet.

Nine-time Grammy-nominated Northern Cree and community organizers in Kettle and Stony Point welcomed Sultans of String to their annual powwow for one of these collaborations.

Steve Wood, drummer and singer, explained, “When you’re collaborating with mainstream music, it shows that we can work together to bring out the very best in who we are as human beings, and we can bring out something very beautiful.”

A central theme running through Walking Through the Fire is the need for the whole truth of Residential Schools and the Indigenous experience to be told long before reconciliation can possibly take place.

Grammy-nominated Elder and poet Dr. Duke Redbird, who in many ways provided the initial inspiration for this project, explained, “The place that we have to start is with truth. Reconciliation will come sometime way in the future, perhaps, but right now, truth is where we need to begin the journey with each other.”

The Late Honourable Murray Sinclair, former chair of the TRC, said, “The very fact that you’re doing this tells me that you believe in the validity of our language, you believe in the validity of our art and our music, and that you want to help to bring it out. And that’s really what’s important: for people to have faith that we can do this.”

Kingston Road United Church is located at 975 Kingston Rd. Tickets for the April 12 concert are $35 in advance by going online to https://www.eventbrite.com/e/walking-through-the-fire-with-sultans-of-string-live-in-toronto-tickets-1105968123429?aff=oddtdtcreator or $40 at the door.

For more information on the Kingston Road Village Concert Series, please go to https://www.kruc.ca/concert-series