Telling the tale of a town
Yellowknifers share their downtown memories
as part of a national story-telling project
John McFadden
Northern News Services
Friday, October 14, 2016
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
There are thousands of stories hidden in the fabric of Yellowknife's downtown, and Charles Ketchabaw is here to collect as many of them as he can.
Pat Braden, left, Janna Graham, Charles Ketchabaw and Terry Pamplin stand in front of a model of downtown Yellowknife in their temporary studio space at Centre Square Mall. - John McFadden/NNSL photo |
The Toronto-based co-creator the national Tale of a Town initiative has been crisscrossing Canada over the past three years visiting communities large and small, collecting video and audio stories from residents about their downtowns, and he landed here in late September to do the same. With the interviews he creates a multimedia presentation comprised of residents' stories. Yellowknife will be one facet of that project.
He said people who come to see his presentation at the Centre Square Mall tonight and tomorrow afternoon will hear all kinds of tales about Yellowknife's core - the good and the bad, the pleasant and the gritty. And he thinks those who come to listen will be fascinated.
"We wanted to visit town and cities in all of Canada's province and territories before Canada's (150th) birthday next year to bring people back downtown and capture the living memories of people on Canada's main streets across the country," Ketchabaw said. "Downtown means a lot of different things to different people. Downtown main streets aren't always the same for everybody. There are people who aren't always welcome on main streets."
Ketchabaw said he understands the city's downtown has changed over the years - businesses have come and gone, people have also come and gone.
"We've been gathering stories in small towns and big cities alike by means of scheduled and impromptu interviews with independent business owners, local heroes, community stakeholders and neighbourhood residents," he said.
The roughly half-hour presentation will become a podcast so people will be able to see the finished product on the Tale of a Town website.
"We've recorded over 44 hours of interviews here since Sept. 27," he said.
"We often use a mobile van to go around and collect stories but because it turned colder we decided to set up in a storefront in the mall and we've had hundreds of people come in. It's created a space where people come in and reflect and remember. It's been really interesting to watch."
Ketchabaw said funding for the program has come from several sources including local arts councils, foundations, tourism organizations and business improvement areas. The city's heritage committee and the Northern Arts and Cultural Centre (NACC) have helped with the funding for the Yellowknife project, Ketchabaw said.
He said he was inspired to do the Tale of a Town after he watched big box stores move into his downtown Toronto neighbourhood, forcing some of the long-time mom and pop operations out.
"But rather than focus on the negative we celebrate the living memories of downtown," Ketchabaw said. "The idea is to look to the past to inspire the future."
Ketchabaw said he has come to realize Yellowknife's downtown has some challenges, including homelessness, mental health and addictions but said this is not unique to Yellowknife - he has been in many town and cities with similar issues. Rather than the homelessness, one aspect about Yellowknife that caught his attention is the number of people who come here for a short time and stayed.
Ketchabaw has enlisted some local help including musician Pat Braden who will play live music to accompany the presentation.
"I'm like the piano player in a silent movie. I am adding musical ambiance to the program," Braden said.
"The stories being told aren't all light and fluffy and joyful nostalgia - some are right in your face and gritty. There is no shortage of downtown Yellowknife stories."
Local residents Janna White and Terry Pamplin have also helped create the Yellowknife presentation of the Tale of a Town. Both said that it has been an interesting project to be involved in. Graham added she didn't want to give away any of the stories ahead of time but said that the Gold Range Tavern is definitely the subject of some of them.
The presentations take place tonight at 6 p.m. and tomorrow at 2 p.m. in the lower level of Centre Square Mall. Admission is free.
