By Ryan Flaherty for Sask Lotteries
For Indigenous people, storytelling serves an important purpose, not only in preserving their history and cultural traditions through the generations but in sharing that culture with the broader community.
Based in Saskatoon, the Gordon Tootoosis Nikaniwin Theatre has spent the last quarter century telling stories and celebrating Indigenous culture while providing opportunities for Indigenous talent both established and emerging. Each year, the GTNT (formerly known as the Saskatchewan Native Theatre Company) stages multiple, professional productions that are created and performed by Indigenous artists, with the aim of entertaining, educating and empowering their audiences.
“It’s important, being able to share our stories and openly speak our language and engage with our culture,” artistic director Jennifer Dawn Bishop said. “Indigenous theatre also highlights the strength and resilience of Indigenous Peoples and communities.”
In addition to its annual season of performances, the GTNT also hosts a variety of programs aimed at fostering the next generation of Indigenous storytellers. With support from funding partners like Sask Lotteries, they have been able to expand these programs while keeping them free, accessible and inclusive.
One such program is the Performer’s Playhouse summer day camp for inner city youth. In addition to helping with essentials like craft items, Sask Lotteries funding also covered the cost of transportation for the campers, removing a potentially significant barrier to their participation.
Other programs offered by GTNT include New Voices, a six-month paid residency that helps young Indigenous writers learn how to put their work on the stage, and Circle of Voices, which teaches youth artistic and theatrical skills while incorporating traditional Indigenous cultural practices.
“Theatre has always been an outlet for me. The fact that it also incorporates my culture was a bonus. It’s nice to be able to meet people in your age range that can understand (to some degree) what you’re going through,” a former Circle of Voices student said.
In addition to helping with program delivery costs, funding support from Sask Lotteries also serves a broader purpose of connecting the GTNT with a wider audience.
“Without [it], we wouldn’t be able to bring our work to the communities outside of Saskatoon or be able to perform outside our offices,” Bishop said.
The positive impact is evident not only in the cultural enrichment that GTNT provides through its performances but the opportunities that it provides for Indigenous voices to tell their stories and the doors it opens for youth to pursue a career in theatre or the performing arts.
“Each show we do, it celebrates how far we have come as a society and how proud we are that we get to tell our stories our way,” Bishop said.