"Operation Big Rock" is a U of S story

Few people in Saskatchewan are aware of the true story that inspired Operation Big Rock, the latest production of Dancing Sky Theatre.

That was, in fact, part of what convinced Saskatoon playwright Joel Bernbaum to bring the tale to the stage.

“It’s such a dynamic piece of Saskatchewan history that I’d say the average Saskatchewan resident has no idea about,” Bernbaum says.

Yet in some ways, that piece of history was a pivotal moment in the relationship between the province’s Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal peoples—and one deeply tied to the University of Saskatchewan.

The buffalo rock

Operation Big Rock tells the story of the political and cultural battle that took place in the 1950s and 60s over Mistaseni, a 400-ton pre-Cambrian stone in the South Saskatchewan River valley. Shaped like a resting buffalo and surrounded by legend, the rock was considered sacred by the Assiniboine and Cree nations.

As recounted in an historical retrospective by Arts & Science alumna Taylor Leedahl, Mistaseni came under threat in 1958 when the South Saskatchewan River Dam Project was approved as a measure to combat severe drought on the prairies. The buffalo stone lay directly in the flood path of the new dam’s reservoir.

Enter Zenon Pohorecky, the founding chair of the U of S Department of Archaeology and Anthropology. During a time when First Nations culture was actively suppressed in Canada, Pohorecky began a passionate campaign to save Mistaseni and the cultural heritage it represented. Much of the movement—titled “Operation Mistaseni”—was centered at the U of S, including a 1966 rally and rock concert featuring Buffy Sainte-Marie.

The campaign was not successful. Later in 1966, representatives of a federal agency packed the rock with dynamite and blasted it to pieces.

Inspiration in history

Mistaseni’s legacy amounted to more than just chunks of rock. When Joel Bernbaum came across the story, he says he found himself fascinated by the mindset of Pohorecky; what would drive a man to risk his career and reputation for the sake of a culture he did not belong to?

Operation Big Rock, says Bernbaum, is “a love story about a rock.” It’s about the “spiritual journey” of an anthropologist—inspired by Pohorecky, but fictionalized—as he devotes himself to the fight for the sacred stone.

That bridging of two cultures was another element that drew Bernbaum to the story.

“I’ve seen plays about First Nations spirituality and I’ve seen plays about white spirituality,” Bernbaum says, “but I’ve never seen a play that deals with the overlap, or the resonance, or the dissonance between the two.”

A "Saskatchewan story"

Carol Greyeyes, an instructor in the U of S Department of Drama, performs three roles in the play. The veteran Cree actor worked with Bernbaum on Operation Big Rock while the script was still in development, and says she jumped at the opportunity to be part of its debut production.

“I was so taken by his approach, and I really felt that he had developed this story in a very respectful way to First Nations—to include their side of the story, if you will,” Greyeyes says.

Greyeyes sees parallels in the story to modern conflicts between economic progress and cultural preservation, and says she hopes the play will cause people—in the way that only art can—to think and reflect on these issues.

“I think it’s so important that this story be told," says Greyeyes. "It is a Saskatchewan story. It’s a story that we all share, whether we’re aware of it or not.”

Operation Big Rock starts in Meacham on Apr. 25 and will feature two performances at the U of S on May 6 and 7. Prior to the show on May 7, a special panel of experts will discuss the historical basis of the play.