David Edney Fellowship brings Darlene Auger to the wîcêhtowin Aboriginal Theatre Program

by dee Hobsbawn-Smith

Darlene Auger has seen the healing power of Cree language in her theatrical and academic work. Auger received the David Edney Visiting Research Fellowship for 2016-17 to lead drama workshops and classes at the U of S for the wîchêhtowin Aboriginal Theatre Program.

The wîcêhtowin Aboriginal Theatre Program (ATP) at the College of Arts and Science is the first of its kind at a Canadian university, and it is helping a new generation of students tell stories about their place in the 21st century. Since it began in 2015, students of the ATP program have studied Cree language and Cree worldview with the purpose of writing and designing an original stage production. In May 2017, students performed maskihkiyiwan nehiyawin: Re-igniting the Fire (“Cree is medicine: re-igniting the Fire”) as the capstone to their two years of shared study and training.

As the David Edney Fellow, Auger had the role of stimulating and supporting the students’ theatrical performance by instructing them in Cree language and the Cree world view.  

“Darlene offers the actual experience of the transformative power of theatre. It is not theory – she has lived it. Her knowledge and teaching is authentic and comes from the heart… motivated from a place of generosity and sharing,” said Carol Greyeyes, Drama Assistant Professor and Coordinator of wîcêhtowin Aboriginal Theatre Program.

 “[This program is] so important for Canadian theatre and Indigenous theatre, since the language carries world view and is a vehicle for cultural expression,” Greyeyes commented.  

Theatre became important during Auger’s teen years in her hometown of Wabesca, Alberta, when she lost some friends to suicide. “Drama saved my life,” Auger said in a recent interview. “Someone cared enough to get outside help and a drama program for youth began in the schools.” The program was overseen by Edmonton’s Catalyst Theatre, which had several Indigenous artists, including Carol Greyeyes and Art Napoleon.

Auger fell in love with theatre and went on to the University of Alberta, earning first a Bachelor of Education degree with a major in drama, then a BA in psychology, also majoring in drama. “I was interested in the art of theatre as a method for looking at social issues or as a form of therapy. That’s what it did for me as young person, preventing me from taking my own life,” she said. In her early twenties, she returned home to Wabesca, where she began a summer youth theatre program.

Teamwork is key to the theatrical experience. As Auger explained, “There is no success for any if we don’t reach the top together. It’s about building relationships and trust, looking at each other’s strengths, and working to your own abilities. Together we work to a final production.”

More information about the wîcêhtowin Aboriginal Theatre Program can be found here.

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