Cris Derksen and Orchestral Powwow was one of the artist and art forms featured at the Queer Art Festival on June 24, 2017 (The Georgia Straight, March 6, 2017). The theme of the festival “Unsettled” required the presence of Two-Spirit performers like Derksen along with the Orchestral Powwow in order to highlight the absence of Two-Spirit people and art from popular culture (The Georgia Straight, March 6, 2017). Artists like Derksen will expose the issue of historical extermination of Two-Spirit individuals and the lack of alternative Aboriginal sexuality and gender in contemporary western culture/media. In addition, they will exhibit the Two-Spirit movement and future as a part of the reclaiming of Two-Spirit identity and practice (The Georgia Straight, March 6, 2017).
Orchestral Powwow is a creation of Two-Spirit Cree cellist and composter Cris Derksen (The Georgia Straight, June 20, 2017). It is a new genre of music and includes Indigenous artists and performers. This medium is a means of collaboration, empowerment and the reclaiming of gender and identity for Aboriginals including Two-Spirit persons. The artistry is being used as a mode of agency, an expression of queer politics of belonging, a disruption of heteronormativity and the performance of disidentification
The music is the weaving together of traditional powwow beats and classical music and a style that brings Indigenous music to the centre of the European model, as well as to the contemporary western culture/media (Unreserved, 2015). Derksen comments that the music is a representation of the two worlds as much as it is a signifier of her being a Two-Spirit woman in a primarily heterosexual world (The Georgia Straight, June 20, 2017). Furthermore, the association of the traditional powwow beats and the classical music and the affiliation between a Two-Spirit woman in a heterosexual sphere creates tension. This tension speaks to the broader implications regarding how colonization and decolonization impacts Indigenous bodies. Derksen discloses that she uses her identity of mixed heritage and Two-Spirit gender and sexual orientation to create a unique form of music that expresses her agency and indigeneity. This amalgamation can be interpreted as a means of decolonization and the disruption of heteronormativity.
In addition, Derksen declares that Orchestral Powwow is the mode that will create a space for Aboriginals to be heard, seen, and valued, as well as given a leading role. Chavez (2010) affirms Derksen’s notion of queer belonging and being valued as a citizen in the nation-state. Therefore utilising powwow music and the wearing of regalias in the performances of orchestra music is a demonstration of belonging and citizenship. This is also what Munoz (1999) refers to as a performance of disidentification. Performing disidentification is a vital survival strategy for Two-Spirit and Indigenous persons because of settler colonialism. Like Julia Salgado’s art, it is used as a tool of resistance. As such, Derksen and Orchestral Powwow is a declaration that Two-Spirit and Aboriginals through the beats of their ancestors will continue to resist the borders of second-class citizenship in which they are placed. “Being identified as two-spirit often meant carrying unique responsibilities and roles within the community, knowledge keepers being one of the most important” (Georgia Straight, Mar 6, 2017). Adrian Stimson’s (Georgia Straight, March 6, 2017)) expresses the unique role of Two-Spirit individuals as knowledge keepers; while Driskill (2004) states that, they are caretakers. Derksen is a good example of a knowledge keeper and caretaker of the Aboriginal community and culture through Orchestral Powwow.
Derken and Orchestral Powwow is a reminder that Two-Spirit and Indigenous Peoples will continue to celebrate their identity on their terms while transforming the psyche of the nation.
Work Cited:
CBC Radio. Unreserved. Retrieved November 24, 2017 fromhttp://www.cbc.ca/radio/unreserved/remembering-mmiw-iceis-rain-on-two-spirited-success-and-cellist-cris-derksen-s-unique-musical-genre-1.3254088/cellist-cris-derksen-creates-new-genre-with-orchestral-powwow-1.3254566
Chavez, Karma. (2010). Border (In)securities: Normative and Differential Belonging In LGBTQ and Immigrant Rights Discourse. Communication and Critical/Cultural Studies, 7(2): 136-155.
Driskill, Qwo-Li. (2004). Stolen From Our Bodies: First Nations Two-Spirit/Queers and The Journey To A Sovereign Erotic. Studies in American Indian Literature, 16(2): 50-64
Munoz, Jose Esteban. (1999). Performing Disidentifications. In His Disidentification, pp. 1-34
The Georgia Straight. Vancouver’s Queer Arts Festival to highlight two-spirit and indigenous perspectives this year. Retrieved November 7, 2017 from https://www.straight.com/life/877746/vancouvers-queer-arts-festival-highlight-two-spirit-and-indigenous-perspectives-year
The Georgia Straight. Orchestral Powwow blends indigenous and classical forms at Queer Arts Festival. Retrieved November 24, 2017 from https://www.straight.com/arts/926716/orchestral-powwow-blends-indigenous-and-classical-forms-queer-arts-festival