Comedy, music flow at National Aboriginal Day events
Last Updated: Saturday, June 21, 2008 | 4:39 PM ET
CBC News
Rising country star Shane Yellowbird is among the musical headliners for the Aboriginal Day Live concerts. Though Canadians across the country are participating in National Aboriginal Day events Saturday, Yellowknife and Winnipeg are two hotspots for this year's celebrations.
The star-studded annual Aboriginal Day Live show takes place both in the Northwest Territories and Manitoba on Saturday evening, the culmination of a myriad of free daytime events.
National Aboriginal Day, established by the federal government in 1996, follows in the vein of earlier Aboriginal Solidarity Day celebrations — which since 1982 had celebrated the heritage, culture and contributions of First Nations, Inuit and Métis people of Canada.
"Traditionally, this was the time of year when we'd gather to celebrate and socialize," comedian Don Kelly told CBC News on Saturday morning.
"I think, to this day, that spirit carries over," he said. "It's a day where we want to celebrate with ourselves and all Canadians."
Kelly will host the live event in Yellowknife, with a lineup that includes singer-actor Tamara Podemski, rock group Diga, blues act Indigenous and rapper Litefoot. In Winnipeg, actor Lorne Cardinal will host as musical acts like country star Shane Yellowbird take the stage.
This is the third year the Alberta-born Yellowbird has celebrated National Aboriginal Day in Winnipeg, he said Saturday afternoon, adding that he has always had a good time meeting fans and talking to young people.
"I was [once] just a young kid who grew up on a reservation," said Yellowbird, who later travelled around with his parents, who worked on the rodeo circuit. "I like to give a lot of people hope…tell them how I got started and have never given up."
Humour a part of aboriginal culture
While Yellowbird emphasized hope as an important trait for Canada's aboriginal community, Ottawa-based Kelly, who has about a decade of experience as a comedian under his belt, places value on humour — which he says has always been a part of aboriginal culture.
"It's always been there," he said, pointing out that in the storytelling of elders and teachers, "there was always a lot of humour."
More personally, Kelly recalled that "as a kid, I remember enjoying standup comedy and just the power it had…It really hit home the universal power of humour and the way it could connect with everyone when it's done well."
While some might feel that aboriginal humour developed as a way to cope with hardship, Kelly said, "laughter has echoed across Turtle Island" from the very beginning.
"It's a really powerful communication device."
