Screening to Raise Funds for Secwepemcstín Revitalization Bursary
- JulienC
- 5 days ago
- 7 min read
Laura Michel, playwright of Echoes of the Homesick Heart, strives to support scholars studying Secwépemc language
Western Canada Theatre (WCT), in partnership with the Kamloops Film Society, is proud to present a screening of Echoes of the Homesick Heart; a play that explores generational connections and disconnections between Secwépemc culture, community, and language. The story is based on 40 in-person interviews conducted throughout the Secwépemc Nation by playwright Laura Michel.
The screening will be held on June 22nd from 12pm to 3pm at the Paramount Theatre, and will feature a presentation of the filmed 2022 production alongside a panel discussion with theatre artists, musical artists, and language specialists. Shay Paul, on behalf of the Indigenous Resurgence Project, will also be displaying a collection of research findings in the lobby about Indigenous arts representation in Kamloops and the work of artists in the area.
Admission is by a minimum $5 donation, and all proceeds go towards the Echoes of the Homesick Heart Bursary to support Secwépemc scholars committed to sustaining and reclaiming their language. Tickets are available online here, or by cash and card at the door.
Michel, who is an Adams Lake Band member, currently works as the Language Nest Coordinator for the Chief Atahm School, a Secwepemctsín immersion school on the Adams Lake reserve. She holds a Secwépemc Language Proficiency Diploma from R Stselxméms r Secwépemc Knowledge Institute (an Intensive Adult Secwepemctsín Fluency Program).
Michel spoke with the IRP about her journey researching, writing, and sharing Echoes of the Homesick Heart with the community.
This interview has been edited for clarity and concision.
What inspired you to start writing the play in the first place?
"At the time I had been asked to do entertainment for the [Chief Atahm School] language conference for the entertainment portion of their evening. I had been looking up scripts and trying to find something that I could do a little reading or monologue of, and everything that I was finding at that time—which was over a decade ago now—was beautiful and poignant about language loss and colonization and the effects of colonization and the effects on the Indigenous population.
But I wasn't finding anything that had that positive note, had that positive aspect, had what comes next. It was all, at the time ... from my searching and looking, was just the destruction side of things.
... I had seen first hand the steps that were being done, all of the work that was being done to reclaim Secwepemcstín, to revitalize it, to actively be at those front lines. I had seen that personally. It made me start to question whether people in the Secwépemc Nation shared my experiences, and wanting to look at those from the different generational perspectives."
During the research and writing process, how were you trying to connect with different generations?
"With the voices that I was getting in the interviews, I was hearing a lot of similar experiences, and that's what helped to craft the characters in their particular generations for the shows. From the Elders, I was getting a lot of information about that language loss. They had the language when they were a child and then, you know, ... the message that they had received as children is that's going to be a detriment to them and their education, or for their children.
My father's generation, the first generation out of residential school, most of the time did not learn any Secwepemctsín at all because there was a lot of shame after residential school.... For this show specifically, it assumes that the audience knows that part already. The show doesn't delve into how the language was lost; it starts from a standpoint of where we are now and what are we going to do about it, and what are people doing about it now.
... For example, Chief Atahm School, part of the inspiration was my younger cousin. My aunt started the Language Nest [a Secwépemc immersion program], and they went on to start the daycare-type program and then the school. I won't say that the school was specifically built for him, but he was, specifically, her inspiration for the work. And then obviously each Community member had their own passions ... to get the school started. So my younger cousin really experienced the full benefits of being raised in the language.
... I saw the show as [showing] the younger generation being the first to potentially fully benefit, 'cause my younger cousin is fluent. For his level of fluency, he's basically considered an Elder in the language because he has the language from such a young age and grew up in it around the Elders, speaking with the Elders."
When in the writing process of Echoes of Homesick Heart did the interviews come into play?
"The play and the script came second. I had received some amazing support and funding from the TRU CURA [Thompson Rivers University Community University Research Alliance] at the time for the research portion, and so I was able to conduct those [interviews].
I knew that I wanted the research to result in a verbatim-style play [a form of documentary play composed of words spoken by interviewees], but the form that took was through the mentorship process: speaking with other playwrights to really shape it and form it. It had no form to begin with. It was strictly a question, and my intent was to make sure that I was being as truthful and honest to the voices that were given to me in the those interviews.
... Without those community voices, there wouldn't ever have been a show. One of the things that I said when the show came out is that I wanted to write a show about supporting language, but because you're legitimately talking about people's words and their voices, I didn't want to write a show that was 'Secwepemctsín language according to Laura Michel.' I wanted to make sure to have those individual voices and those experiences. That was important to me to make sure that I wasn't just speaking for Secwépemc people and Secwepemctsín; that those voices came from the community."
How has the message of Echoes of the Homesick Heart shifted from the play's premiere to now?
"I only speak to my personal change and the hope that the show brings that personal change in others.... It has shifted for me personally because of that journey, that I have now been pursuing my own post-secondary language journey, and I'm working directly with the [Chief Atahm] School and with those language teachers to do my part. It had inspired me to to take those first steps on that journey.
...I've worked in the curriculum departments and the post-secondary department, and now, since I've actually completed the second language proficiency program for the diploma level, I'm now in the Language Nest and the language development department. I like to joke that, since the premiere of the play, that I really put my money where my mouth is and actually done that work for myself and my family as well."
What do you hope for language revitalization scholars with the Echoes of the Homesick Heart Bursary?
"I've seen first hand just how dedicated these students are to their language journey, and a lot of time there are some that are having financial struggles in being able to pursue this because we're physically based in Chase. There are students who travel from Enderby, from Salmon Arm, from Kamloops, and at times they are financially taking it upon themselves to attend classes. It's not going to be a huge award per year, but hopefully it'll just be that little bit of a financial ease for them to be able to continue pursuing their language journey.
It wouldn't be just for our program. There are a few other support language programs that are in existence, and the applications will be open to anybody pursuing Secwepemcstín at that post-secondary level.... I know that they have language courses at TRU, I know that there's another program—I think the Wuméc program [a Secwepemcstín revitalization society] is similar to our program at Chief Atahm. Any student who is able to show that they are pursuing Secwepemcstín at a post-secondary level can apply."
How can people who can't make the screening or couldn't make the show in 2022 engage with the story going forward?
"The hope is it will be released as an educational tool. People can contact Western Canada Theatre or myself—I'm currently the Indigenous Engagement Coordinator for Western Canada Theatre—they can inquire about having a screening of the show. I think I'm allowed to announce that the National Art Centre has provided funding to do a digital recording of the the panel discussion that will happen at the release of the the show [on June 22nd], and that is going to be included basically as a special features to the play. A study guide was also produced at the time that the show came out.
The hope is not strictly for Indigenous schools, but part of the vision was in that community-based model. If there were Indigenous schools, ... rural schools who want to use it as a theatre unit, it comes with the study guide. Because I mean, it's tough when you have somebody from Canoe [and] Dog Creek or something and loading up a bunch of kids and bringing them all the way to Kamloops or to a large theatre production.
We're already in discussions with a couple of organizations who, even prior to the release, are already interested in hosting a screening. Just staying in that theme of responsible, community-based research, that this is—as a separate the bursary and the release of the digital copy as an educational tool—giving back to the community."
What do you want people to take away from your experience with this whole project?
"From an Indigenous audience, I would hope that it would create those questions of where they feel they are on their own language journey, where they could get to if they took those first steps, if they followed that path, and how that would help and benefit their communities.
... I wanted to show everybody that the work is being done daily, that there are people out on those front lines battling language loss, absolutely advocating and being those stewards of that knowledge going forward.... My hope is that, for all audiences, it is showing them that there are those language warriors that have been at it for decades and they've been holding that front line, they've been pursuing that funding, they've been keeping their the schools open, they've been doing absolutely everything they can to revitalize and reclaim the language.
And they need help. It's a hopeful call to action. Basically, there are people today that are doing everything they can and they need help. And that, for each individual in the audience, Indigenous or non-Indigenous, that that could be you if you take that first step on that journey."
Information about the June 22nd screening of Echoes of the Homesick Heart can be found here. Any interested in hosting their own screening of the play can contact Laura Michel at lmichel@wctlive.ca.
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