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DEH CHO
A performance by a Yellowknife musician and storyteller has signalled the beginning of a new addition to the arts and cultural scene in Fort Simpson and the Deh Cho.

Yellowknife musician and storyteller Pat Braden checks his sound system in the OSC Gallery in Fort Simpson on Monday before his evening performance of Shack Tales. - Roxanna Thompson/NNSL photo

Pat Braden performed his show, Shack Tales, to an audience of 16 people at the OSC Gallery in Fort Simpson on Monday.

The performance was a historic moment for the Northern Arts and Cultural Centre, which organized Braden's tour.

In the past eight years, the centre has been working hard to fulfill its 28-year-old mandate of bringing all types of performing arts to communities

throughout the territory.

In the past, seasonal performance tours with various artists have been held in the Sahtu, Beaufort Delta, South Slave and North Slave. Until now, the Deh Cho was the only region the tours didn't cover, said Ben Nind, the centre's executive and artistic director.

Braden's tour stop has changed that.

Fort Simpson has now been added to the seasonal tours, said Nind. This means that between three and five performers will visit the village each year. The next season will start in September and tickets go on sale in August.

Nind said the centre is talking with local businesses to secure sponsors for accommodations, transportation and freight as well as with the Village of Fort Simpson to potentially use municipal venues.

In other communities strong relationships have developed between the centre and the community, Nind said. He expects the same to happen in the village.

"This is a long-term development thing," he said.

One of the first links the centre has made is with the Open Sky Creative Society, which offered its gallery as a performance space for Shack Tales.

"It's a perfect collaboration for us," said Lynn Canney, the society's programming co-ordinator.

Deh Cho residents live in a wonderfully remote and beautiful part of the world but they often miss out on performance art opportunities, Canney said.

Being a tour stop in the Northern Arts and Cultural Centre's seasonal performances will give Deh Cho residents a chance to see world-class performers, she said.

"It's a great opportunity," said Canney.

Canney said she was captivated by Braden's performance.

"It reminded me of the gentle and kind moments in family life," Canney said.

Although the context of the show is Yellowknife-based, its celebration of family and generations allows anyone to connect with it on some level, Braden said.

Squatter's shack

The audience in the OSC Gallery listened as Braden wove stories of raising his two daughters in a squatter's shack in Yellowknife's Old Town and tales of those who had lived in the shack before them.

"It's a very personal show," he said.

Fort Simpson was the last stop on Braden's tour, which also took him to Norman Wells, Inuvik and Hay River.

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