Movable Feast Indigenous music and culture tour kicks off on Aug. 25 at the ‘Namgis Big House Field in ‘Yalis (Alert Bay) then on Wednesday, Aug. 28 the tour will barge all their equipment to Flores Island for performances in Ahousaht. Stop three and the last leg of the tour is on Aug. 31 in Toquaht Nation’s village of Macoah.
The line-up of Indigenous musicians includes Kiva MH, The Melawmen Collective, Leonard Sumner, Mama Mihirangi, Garret T. Willie, Saltwater Hank, Sechile Sedare, Willie Thrasher and Linda Saddleback, Hassatuk (Kalilah Rampanen), Geo AKA The Voice, Sabina Dennis and local guests.
Founded by 2RiversRemix Society in partnership with virtualfeast.ca, these three stops on the Movable Feast Vancouver Island tour are all free, family-friendly and open to everyone. The program starts at 1 p.m. and wraps around 11 p.m.
“Everywhere we go, we showcase the stories of the people and the land there and how it came to be that way,” said singer, songwriter and Movable Feast founder Meeka Morgan.
“My mom was saying how important the connections between our communities are. We used to be connected by the water way more in terms of transportation and now, where we have been forced to be are places that are really hard to get to. We want to bring those stories to light; the true conditions of our lives,” said Morgan, who is of Toquaht and Secwépemc descent.
The Saturday, Aug. 31 show in Macoah will be a special celebration for Toquaht.
“They’ve done so much development out there that they’ve never been able to celebrate. They’re going to be celebrating their growth and bringing their people home. That’s what my mom has always been about, it’s always been her motto, ‘bringing their people home’,” said Morgan.
Stage and musician manager Victoria Morgan says Movable Feast helps Indigenous youth “reclaim identity” and “build confidence”. Not only do the youth get a chance to listen to different genres of music, but they also get to learn about different jobs in digital media, lighting, camera and tech, Victoria tells the Ha-Shilth-Sa.
“Mentoring and shadowing has been happening a lot with the youth on tour,” she said.
Movable Feast has a crew of about 39 people, including a livestream team. They’re also piloting a fossil fuel free initiative this year by using a fleet of electric vehicles and an LED wall for lighting.
“It’s getting used to a totally different lifestyle. It changes the way you travel. You have to take a lot of time. There are challenges, but when you get to witness the people up on the stages mixed in with the local people, each Movable Feast has the potential and ends up being very unique, very personal to each community,” said Morgan.
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.
2RiversRemix Society 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 continues. “Our managing producer is still a climate refugee, same with many people from Lytton. We lost all our equipment, all our art exhibitions, everything. Even though we probably should have taken a break, we needed to be there for the community, so we pulled together an event called the Movable Feast where we brought together the community of Lytton in Chilliwack.”
For more information or to watch the shows on the livestream, visit: virtualfeast.ca.