Iniskim Documentary!
Iniskim- Return of the Buffalo is cinematic wonder and an incredible opportunity to learn about Indigenous ways of knowing. We watch as a group of puppeteers are transformed by their experience of ‘being buffalo’ at night under the stars.
As Amethyst First Rider says to the puppeteers, “You are the buffalo. With each movement of your hands, each connection, each dream, you’re creating energy and they become a part of you.”
Watch the Trailer!
Premiere at Big Sky Festival in Missoula, Montana
We’re so excited to be heading down to Missoula next week for the World Premier of ‘Iniskim-Return of the Buffalo’. This is certainly the year of the buffalo as we’re one of three films about buffalo that got shortlisted for the Big Sky Award. Awards winners will be announced on Thursday Feb 22nd.
Iniskim returns Aug 8-10!
Iniskim, Return of the Buffalo returns for a limited engagement at the Barrier Lake Field Station as part of the World Stage Design Conference. The revised edition features new stories and writing from Thomas King, Leroy Little Bear, Wes Olson, and Amethyst First Rider.
A collision of drumming, dance, theatre, and puppets, Iniskim celebrates the return of Buffalo to the Land and offers an immersive community experience, under the nighttime sky.
Returning this year are Eya Hey Nakota drummers under the direction of Anders Hunter, a song from Olivia Tailfeathers, and the Iniskim Choir.
Arrive at Barrier Lake Field Station at 8:30 pm, an hour before the performance to participate in lantern building. The performance begins at approximately 9:30 pm.
Please note that the walking path at Barrier is uneven at times, so walking shoes or boots are recommended — and dress for the weather or bring an umbrella — the performance will continue in light rain conditions.
Space is limited, so please sign up early!
Welcome to Iniskim
The moonlit canopy casts a shadow on the winding forest path.
In the distance, the drummers call. We hundred-or-so people have met for the first time. Now, we travel together in a single line through the darkness, our path lit only by the glow of sleeping buffalo lanterns.
The show was spiritually amazing, it felt like all the four legged spirits were there for the show. From start to finish, it was emotionally charged. Loved it.
— Dan Fox
We have left the comfort of our homes. We have left our cell phones behind; we move in silence, giving way to the song of the creatures, trees, and wind. We travel with an open heart on lands older than history, on lands which speak the story of the buffalo and those of the ancestors.
The forest path gives way to an ancient field. We follow the silhouettes of treetops and mountains, like torn paper against an indigo sky. The first stars have come to help tell the story. They have witnessed an eternity; our time is but a day.
Luminous buffalo are grazing in the distance. You wonder “are these ghosts?” In some ways, they are; in other ways, they are spectres for potential futures yet to come. Mysterious, hopeful, and breathtakingly beautiful from start to finish, Iniskim was an experience that honoured its viewers and celebrated its surroundings, as it was, is, and could yet be.
– Caitlind
This is Iniskim…sleeping buffalo…stone buffalo. The story of human folly, and of Na’pi, the trickster, who has hidden the buffalo in the mountains. Iniskim is a gathering…a teaching. Iniskim shines light and truth upon the land.
I have never seen a show that embraces the land as well as this show did. It was also incredible to see the amount of community collaboration between settler and indigenous people in the making of this project. I was incredibly moved when we all began to dance together around the buffalo.
— Kevin Jesuino
A very short history of the buffalo
In early 2017, as part of its mandate to restore species and ecological processes in national parks, Parks Canada began a reintroduction of plains bison to Banff. Banff is Canada’s first National Park located in southern Alberta reaching west of Calgary, along the British Columbia/Alberta border. Iniskim marks this occasion with an immersive, community-engaged, lantern-puppet performance in the style of a traveling medieval cycle play, one that will illuminate upon the rivers and forests of the Canadian Rockies.
The plains bison is a uniquely important animal in the history, culture and ecology of North America. Bison were a plentiful species (historians estimate that there were once 300 million bison roaming from Alaska to Mexico) along the Eastern Slope of the Rockies as far west as the Continental Divide until the late 1800s when they were almost completely eradicated from the land. Many factors contributed to this, including a desire on the part of governments to weaken indigenous populations resisting European expansion westward.
The buffalo were the single most important food source for Indigenous Peoples, and provided all manner of raw material used for everything from shelter to clothing, tools to children’s toys.
Banff National Park was central to saving this iconic species from extinction in the late 1880s by convincing the Canadian government to buy the Pablo-Allard herd in Montana and protect the bison on federal lands.
Watch the National Arts Centre’s Grand Acts of Theatre recording of Iniskim!
Timeline of Creative Activities
- August 8-10, 2022 – Performed at Barrier Lake Field Station as part of the World Stage Design Conference
- October 2 & 3, 2020 – Performed on the Land, Leighton Arts Center, Foothills, Alberta
- September 27 & 28, 2019 – Sunnyside, Mohkinstsis (Calgary), with Springboard Performance
- May 18-21, 2018 – UNISON Festival, Bella Concert Hall, Mount Royal University
- June 16 – Sept. 23, 2018 – Bison bison bison (Sculpture Installation), Leighton Arts Center, Foothills, Alberta
- August 25, 2018 – Performed on the Land, YMCA Camp River’s Edge, Calgary
- August 23, 2018 – Performed on the Land, Buffalo Mountain/Banff Center for Arts and Creativity
- August 24, 2018 – Performed on the Land, YMCA Camp Chief Hector, Bow Valley Corridor
*In the spirit of reconciliation, Canadian Academy of Mask and Puppetry acknowledges that we live, work and play on the traditional territories of the Blackfoot Confederacy (which includes the Siksika, Kainai, Piikani). We would also like to acknowledge the Tsuut’ina, the Îyâxe Nakoda Nations(Bearspaw, Chiniki, and Wesley), the Métis Nation (Region 3), and all of us who make their homes in the Treaty 7 region of Southern Alberta.*
Iniskim Media
2020 CBC mini-documentary
2017 AFA mini-documentary
Image Gallery
Click on image below to open
Project Overview
Iniskim uses lantern sculpture, puppetry, spoken word, traditional Blackfoot song, dance and Nakoda drumming to retell the story of the buffalo in North America. Community members and visitors are invited to gather in advance for lantern-building workshops where conversations and teachings can take place.
The story of the buffalo is a starting point for cultural exchange, and their return is a significant moment pointing toward healing and a better way forward. The return of the buffalo is also an important ecological moment — as she teaches us of our shared connection to the land, and to the many beautiful facets of nature.
In addition, an online digital web-comic has been created to reach out to the world in celebration of this grand occasion.
Why Here? Why Now?
The demise of the buffalo is a story for all of North American to contend with. It is a reminder of the interconnectedness of our societies and of humans to the greater environment. It is a story which can teach us about the coarsest instincts of colonialism and the great costs that come with imperialism and unchecked conquest. Our hope is that Iniskim will give a space for discussions about where communities are, and where communities might go. It can create a space for healing and a space for light.
We stand at a crossroads, environmentally. And so, here too, the buffalo is a great teacher. The reintroduction of large mammal species such as the buffalo is a positive step for the greater health of the plains ecosystem. Already in Banff, birds which build their nests from the hair of the buffalo have returned to the land where the herd is active, after an absence of more than one-hundred-and-fifty years.
Iniskim
Return of the Buffalo
A Canadian Academy of Mask and Puppetry production.
Presented by
National Arts Centre English Theatre’s
Grand Acts of Theatre
Marking this Moment
Performed on the land, October 2 & 3, 2020 – Leighton Arts Center, Foothills, Alberta
As the performing arts sector continues to face unprecedented challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the National Arts Centre has responded with Grand Acts of Theatre, an initiative to bring Canadian artists and audiences together. Eleven of Canada’s most innovative theatre companies have been engaged to create and perform large-scale, new works in response to these times, which will be performed outdoors in front of live audiences in various Canadian locations, filmed, and later shared online. For more information on Grand Acts of Theatre and the companies involved please visit nac-cna.ca/GrandActsofTheatre.
The National Arts Centre Foundation wishes to thank RBC Foundation as Presenting Partner of Grand Acts of Theatre. Grand Acts of Theatre is also made possible thanks to the support from The Jenepher Hooper Fund for Theatre at the National Arts Centre Foundation, established as a result of a generous gift from the estate of Jenepher Margaret Hooper.
Originally developed at the Banff Arts Center and supported by Canada Council, New Chapter and Alberta Foundation for the Arts Commemorative Art Project.
Core Creative Team
Amethyst First Rider
Amethyst First Rider is a member of the Blood Tribe, born and raised in Calgary, Alberta. She graduated from the University of Lethbridge in 1980 and received her Master’s of Fine Arts from the University of Calgary. Amethyst engaged in further theatre and drama development at Banff Centre for the Arts, Banff Alberta. Ms. First Rider taught Native Literature at the University of Lethbridge for 10 years as a sessional instructor. At present, Ms. First Rider is a major proponent in buffalo restoration, being one of the original organizers of Iinii Initiative, an ongoing buffalo restoration project that has resulted in the signing of a Buffalo Treaty by First Nations on both sides of the Canada – USA border.
David Lane
David Lane is a painter, writer, and theatre artist sharing his time between Massachusetts and Calgary, Alberta. He is one of the founding members of the Old Trout Puppet Workshop and a two-time Jim Henson Foundation grant recipient for his original play The Chronicles of Rose, which tells the story of Rose Valland who helped save countless European paintings from being lost forever during WWII.
When he is not in his studio, David teaches performance and classes in creative-practice at Siena College and is an Artist In Residence at the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts. His original clown play The Painting, was selected to be presented at the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival, Region One.
David is the co-Director of the annual Berkshire Lantern Walk, a community festival of light, in collaboration with the Clark Art Institute. That work, along with experiments in articulated puppet-lantern forms in Newfoundland, led to the design aesthetic employed for Iniskim — moistened reed shapes, skinned with natural muslin, and lit from within.
He is the co-Director of the New England Puppet Intensive and teaches a yearly workshop in puppet carving at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA).
Pete Balkwill
Peter Balkwill is a founding, co-Artistic Director at the Old Trout Puppet Workshop in Calgary, Alberta. He holds an MFA in Acting from the University of Washington in Seattle, and a BFA in Theatre from University of Victoria. He also serves as the Co-Artistic Curator for the International Festival of Animated Objects.
He has taught as head of movement at the University of Victoria and facilitated workshops with companies across Canada, U.S. Denmark and France – including as Director of the Banff Puppet Intensive at the Banff Center for Arts & Creativity, and Co-Director of the New England Puppet Intensive. He has also led extended workshops at Hollyhock, NTS, Toronto School Of Puppetry, Brown University, Rhode Island, University of Washington, and the RCA in St John’s Newfoundland.
He also has ten years experience as an experiential educator in outdoor leadership, building group strength through initiative challenges at the Rocky Mountain YMCA Outdoor Center, situated in the Canadian Rockies.
Peter is also the drummer of the boot stomping, punk-bluegrass, hollar band called The Agnostic Mountian Gospel Choir.
Nan Balkwill
Nan Balkwill is a theatre artist, drama teacher and certified yoga instructor. Her passion for devised and ensemble based physical theatre (mask, puppetry and clown) has led her to collaborate with a variety of companies. She has worked with Green Fools Theatre Society, MoMo (a mix ability contact improv dance company), Vermont’s Bread and Puppet Theatre, Clunk Puppet Lab, Champagne Palace (a Blue Lake alt folk band), The Janes and currently she is working on a multimedia puppet show called Broken Sugar Bowl for the Animated Objects Festival. She has directed for Sage Theatre’s Ignite Festival, Urban Curvz’s Girls Gone Wild Festival and numerous productions for Vincent Massey School Theatre -recent credits include The Hobbit and A Christmas Carol.
She has taught Drama, Film and Yoga for the Calgary Board of Education for the past 10 years, she is the co-director of the New England Puppet Intensive in Massahusetts, USA and is an alumni of the professional training program at Dell’Arte International School of Physical Theatre in Blue Lake, CA.
Troy Emery Twigg
Troy is Blackfoot from the Kainai Nation in Southern Alberta. An instigator of progressing First Nations arts in the country, he has worked for various arts organizations in various roles and responsibilities. He has worked as an actor and dancer but is primarily an artist in movement and choreography mostly creating his own works that have toured nationally and internationally including: Iitahpoyii; They Shoot Buffalo, Don’t They?; Dancing The Universe in Flux; Pulse; Static.
He has recently performed in Okotoks by Justin Many Fingers and the touring version of Omari Newton’s Sal Capone: The Lamentable Tragedy of… produced by Vancouver’s Urban Ink Productions. Troy has also taught courses on Indigenous performing arts at the University of Lethbridge, University of British Columbia Okanagan, Centre for Indigenous Theatre and the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity. He was just commissioned as a guest artist to create a work performed as part of Decidedly Jazz Danceworks’ Modern Vaudevillians and creating a duet for Swallow A Bicycle Theatre as part of Labelled.
He is guest and co-curator for Dance Collection Dance’ exhibit By Invitation Only: Dance, Confederation and Reconciliation, which opens June 24, 2017 in Toronto. He along with Amy Bowring co-curator will be doing a presentation on this exhibit with traveling panels to the Canada Dance Festival in Ottawa at the National Arts Centre. His writing was featured in “Correspondence: real time + real distance”, which will be published in the near future. He has also co-authored with Kris Demeanor an article on Making Treaty 7, where he served as an Artistic Associate since its inception and Artistic Director, that will be published in Canadian Theatre Review this year.
Eya Hey Nakoda
Rod Hunter, Gavin Ear, Desi Rider, Anders Hunter and Shanda Hunter formed the drum group Eya-Hey Nakoda. The drum group composes all original songs of their own. Whether it’s a big contest or a small traditional powwow, Eya-Hey Nakoda loves to sing and loves to make the dancers dance hard.
At the powwows, before grand entry, different member of the group will take their turn to offer tobacco to the drum and pray. They pray for dancers, the other drum groups and all the people that are there. They give thanks for the spirit dancer, the singing spirit, the drum spirit (grandfather drum), and most importantly, give thanks to creator for life. They would also pray and ask for blessing from the drum so that when the dancers dance, or when the people listen to the music, they will be cured of any ailments.
Eya-Hey Nakoda are predominantly Nakoda from the Bearspaw, Chiniki and Wesley First Nations in Morley, Alberta. They are, however, proud to have singers from different tribes such as: Siksika Nation, Cree, Muscogee, Tsuu Tina Nation, Aniyvwiya, the Dakota Nation, and Blackfeet, to name a few.
Eya-Hey Nakoda are a world class championship drum group that have been traveling for over 25 years to various powwows and will continue to do so.
Contributing Artists
Marie-Êve Cormier
Bachelor of Art in theatre & pluridisciplinary arts at the University of Moncton, Marie-Eve “Mêve” Cormier is a well rounded Pan-Canadian art scene trailblazer. Set and costume designer, actress, digger of many diamonds in the rough, Mêve contributes her many talents and passions, first with the Satellite théâtre, the Théâtre Français de Toronto, the collective Moncton-Sable , Circus Stella and more recently, with Sortie de Secours, La Cigogne, le théâtre de quartier et Théâtre Blanc.
Mêve is a two-time recipient of the Bourse Banque Nationale Prize given out by the ATFC (La fondation pour l’avancement du théâtre français au Canada). In 2011, Mêve took part in intensive training in Italy with mask maker Maestro Sartori), and in September 2015, was awarded the prize once again during a ceremony in Ottawa. The latest training was with the founders of the Old Trout Puppet Workshop in Massachusetts and included a Set Design intensive at the Banff Creative Center.
She is increasingly invested in numerous socio-cultural volunteer projects. Certified in community and international development by PUCRS (Brazil), she has taken the role of student representative at the Canadian Commission for UNESCO convention in Halifax and was New Brunswick’s delegate at Toronto’s Canadian Youth Art Network (CYAN). Mêve is also involved in various event development scenario along with qilo solutions and is also involved with several solo artists with their grant applications and concert bookings. She continues to evolve, bustling in set design, mask making, teaching & puppet building.
Geneviève Paré
Geneviève Paré is in the practice and profession of building, shaping and performing live theatre. She is Co-Artistic Director of Mudfoot Theatre, a Folk-Art company who strives to invigorate the Canadian ethos through humble magic, puppetry and the performing arts. Alongside her practice as a theatre artist Geneviève works as a professional wilderness guide and outdoor arts facilitator. Her work as Associate Director of the Canadian Wilderness Artist Residency brings artists down remote Canadian rivers to uncover a deeper connection to wild space, and their practice. Geneviève believes that storytelling is essential in the construction, renewal, and celebration of collective identity.
Randi Edmundson
Randi Edmundson is a puppeteer, actor, and theatre creator from Vancouver. Favourite puppetry credits include The House at Pooh Corner (Western Canada Theatre), James and the Giant Peach (Chemainus Theatre Festival), Freddie in the Neighbourhood (The Little Onion Puppet Company), Trunk Puppet Now! (The Old Trout Puppet Workshop/ NOW! Society), and Kolejka (star star theatre). Randi has designed and built puppets for the Vancouver Polish Theatre, Project X Theatre, star star theatre, Impulse Theatre, and The Little Onion Puppet Company. Randi has a BFA in Theatre from the University of Victoria and studied puppetry at the Banff Puppet Theatre Intensive and with Mind of a Snail, Ramshackle Productions, Jeny Cassady, and Mervyn Millar.
Tank Standing Buffalo
Tank Standing Buffalo believes that there is too much cool stuff in the world and not enough time to do it in. He has studied many mediums and taken on many disciplines to better his skills in art. Tank has drawn comic books for the Eaglespeaker Connection for a number of years – a native run comic that is distributed world wide. Tank has shown in many art galleries doing solo and group shows. He spent a year and half on Vancouver Island where he apprenticed as a traditional Totem carver under master carver Phil Ashbee. Tank has a passion for restoring pinball and old arcade games back to their former glory. He’s designed for Tiki Farm, the world’s foremost maker of Tiki mugs. He works at Big Johnson Tattoos as a tattooist. His biggest work can be seen annually at Screamfest here in Calgary where he worked as Lead Art director for nearly 16 years, designing and building Haunted attractions. Tank has directed a handful of music videos, worked on many movie sets as a special FX and makeup artist, and has won several awards acknowledging his work in this field. He’s designed countless gig posters, tshirts for bands, events and even wrestling t shirts. Tank has turned his attention to animation and would like explore the possibilities that are unique to animation.
Ian McFarlane
Ian is a multifaceted theatre artist based out of Calgary and Vancouver. He is currently pursuing an MFA in Contemporary Arts at Simon Fraser University. Ian specializes in devised theatre and interdisciplinary collaboration, having worked as a scenic designer, a performer, a producer and a puppeteer. His most recent creative obsession is with puppetry, leading him into a study of object-oriented performance. Ian is fascinated with the discarded, the misplaced, and the forgotten, which has developed into a sustainable practice of working with unorthodox materials. Ian is a Co-Artistic Director of Mudfoot Theatre in Calgary, Alberta and a frequent puppeteer with Bread and Puppet Theater in Glover, Vermont. Paralleling his need for creative expression, Ian also navigates his life with a bicycle, a paddle and a pair of hiking boots.
Kimberley Cooper
Kimberley Cooper has been dancing and creating dance for most of her life. She joined Decidedly Jazz Danceworks (DJD) as an apprentice in 1989 and was Artistic Associate/Resident Choreographer from 2001 until June 2013 when she was appointed Artistic Director. In 2002, she was named Emerging Artist of the year by Alberta Dance Alliance. Since 2002 Cooper has created fifteen full-length works on DJD, two of them enjoyed major Canadian tours (¡BULLA! 2005, <in collaboration with DJD co-founder Hannah Stilwell> and wowandflutter, 2009). Cooper also dances and choreographs independently and has performed, studied and or taught in Canada, the USA, Spain, Japan, the Turks and Caicos Islands, Cuba and Brazil. Her independent choreography has been presented by One Yellow Rabbit, The University of Calgary, Dancers’ Studio West, Theatre Calgary, Springboard Dance, Ghost River Theatre, Alberta Dance Alliance (Edmonton AB), Dances for small Stages (Vancouver BC) and SUNY Potsdam (NY, USA). Cooper has created two short films for BravoFACT! and appeared in several others. She was Artist In Residence at the Calgary Tower as part of Calgary 2012, in June 2012. In 2014 she was awarded Dance Victoria’s Chrystal Dance Prize for research and development in Brazil. In 2016/17 she was one of the choreographers of Canada’s National Ballet School’s Sharing Dance 150 project. Cooper recently wrote a chapter in the book “City of Animals” produced by University of Calgary’s Humanities Dept. Cooper is endlessly inspired by the spirit of jazz, an art form born out of a culture where dance and music are madly in love, hungry to evolve and greatly influenced by what’s happening in the moment.
Nick Johnson
Nick Johnson is an Illustration graduate from the Alberta College of Art + Design. Based out of Calgary, Alberta, he has provided work for children’s books, advertising, animation and comic books. Fresh from a year long stint as the Art Director for New Machine Studios, he now freelances as a comic book artist and designer while moonlighting as the bass player for the band Me Three. He finds inspiration in contemporary literature, horror films, and the ghosts of utopia.
Core Creative
Amethyst First Rider, Troy Emery Twigg. David Lane, Nan Balkwill, Peter Balkwill
Guiding Elders
Tom Crane Bear, Raymond Many Bears, Patrick Twigg, Beverly Hungry Wolf
Creative Leadership
Amethyst First Rider
Additional Guidance
Leroy Little Bear
Design Team
David Lane, Peter Balkwill, Nan Balkwill. Marie-Êve Cormier, Ian McFarlane, Geneviève Paré, Randi Edmundson
Eya Hay Nakoda Drummers
Under the direction of Anders Hunter
Rod Hunter, Gavin Ear, Desi Rider, Shanda Hunter
Online Comic Book Artists
Nick Johnson, Tank Standing Buffalo
Caller
Raymond Many Bears
Puppeteers
Gemini Iron Shirt, Nan Balkwill, David Lane, Zack Running Coyote, Elaine Weryshko, Liz Windnagel, Elvira Lane, Pauline Trudel, Bailey Parkinson, Pam Tzeng, James T
Kakatotsi (Star Song)
Leroy Little Bear
Forest Song
Olivia Tailfeathers
CAMP Choir
Under the direction of Jean Louis Bleau
Claire McKay, Cassandra Bessette, Drew Kotchan, Elizabeth Gieselmann, Gisele Sweetland, Ina Dobrinski, Greyson Mannella, Jeremy Bizon, Kaaren Finlay, Ken Melax, Kaitlin DeChastelain-Finnigan, Freya Melax, Katt Hryciw, Lisa Collins,, Maddie Aldridge, Megan Vignal, Sheila Bean, Sachia Sproule, Rhiannon Smith
Clarin Cromartie, Bobbi Lintner, Alex Chumley, Yolande Hasselo, Jacqueline Abbott, David Matthies
Documentary Film
Leanne Allison, Director, Tanealle Shade, Intern
Graphic Design and Web
Johanna Schwartz
Conceived by
Amethyst First Rider, Troy Emery Twigg, Peter Balkwill, Nan Balkwill,
David Lane, Celestine Many Bears, Peter Poole, Marie-Eve Marchand
Canadian Academy of Mask and Puppetry
Peter Balkwill, Educational Director, Elaine Weryshko, Educational Coordinator, Bob Davis, General Manager, Jenna Turk, Guest Coordinator
Thank you to all who have supported this project along the way
Canadian Academy of Mask and Puppetry
© 2017 Canadian Academy of Mask and Puppetry
QUICK LINKS
In the spirit of reconciliation, Canadian Academy of Mask and Puppetry acknowledges that we live, work and play on the traditional territories of the Blackfoot Confederacy (which includes the Siksika, Kainai, Piikani). We would also like to acknowledge the Tsuut'ina, the Îyâxe Nakoda Nations(Bearspaw, Chiniki, and Wesley), the Métis Nation (Region 3), and all of us who make their homes in the Treaty 7 region of Southern Alberta.