A proposed initiative to attract more choirs to International Choral Kathaumixw draws on the strong connection with Tla’amin (Sliammon) First Nation that has existed since the festival’s beginnings three decades ago.
Paul Cummings, artistic director of Kathaumixw, approached City of Powell River Mayor Dave Formosa a few months ago about ways to promote the festival’s uniqueness. When Kathaumixw first started in 1984, there were only a handful of music festivals, Cummings said. “Over the years, it’s really, really grown and now there are hundreds of festivals,” he said. “I get an email once a month just from one organization that posts festivals that they’re affiliated with and there’s anywhere from 30 to 50 a month that are going on, even in the winter.”
The festivals are all over the world and many of them are franchised. The World Choir Games, which is set up like the Olympics, ran at the same time as Kathaumixw 2012 in Cincinnati, Ohio. “That attracted 20,000 singers, where ours attracts 800 to 1,000, to give you an idea of the scope of it. Now they’ve got the European Choir Games. Everybody gets either a gold, silver or bronze and you get a world ranking.”
Cummings has heard feedback from some choirs that went to Cincinnati, he said. They told him they were disappointed, because they felt like a number, they didn’t see any of the good choirs and they ended up staying miles outside of town. “There’s no personal contact,” he said. “The more I travel and the more festivals I see, the more I realize how incredibly unique Kathaumixw is.”
Kathaumixw is a Coast Salish word that means “a gathering together of different peoples.” Among the aspects that make Kathaumixw unique, Cummings added, are the first nation’s component and the natural beauty of the area. The size of the festival is perfect, he explained, because there are enough choirs and enough singing to ensure a great variety. Yet, it’s small enough to allow the personal touch, including homestays for the groups that are from overseas.
Personalities, such as Fred and Gunner Sjöberg, Don James and Tobin Stokes, contribute to the overall fabric. “Everyone gets to meet them and say hello while being part of a big choral competition,” Cummings said.
During the course of their conversation, Formosa came up with the idea of offering the Choir of the World, the winning group of all the competitions at Kathaumixw, a totem pole to take back to their home. “We would follow them after their win and have an entourage of people that would take this totem pole, carved right here, right to their town and have it erected there,” Cummings said.
Cummings took the idea back to Kathaumixw organizers and they thought it was fantastic, he said. “From the Kathaumixw standpoint, it’s a matter of having this beautiful totem pole and advertising it through our website, social media and choral journals. It would play a significant part in the opening ceremonies and would then stand in the Great Hall over the course of the week for people to ogle at,” Cummings said. Then the totem pole would be delivered to the choir’s home city. “We can only dream about what the receiving end is going to be like, what kind of a deal the city and the dignitaries are going to make about it,” he added.
Cummings and Formosa, sometimes joined by Councillor Debbie Dee who holds the arts and culture portfolio, have been working on the details. “We’ve reverse-engineered the process, because we need to know what we’re looking at financially,” Formosa said. Research indicated $20,000 every two years is a good estimate for the basic project.
Next, Formosa approached Craig Galligos, a Tla’amin carver who carved the totem pole erected at the Spirit Square at the Wharf at Westview, seeking a commitment for three totem poles at a fixed price, in order to have an initial six-year timeframe to ensure the project’s success.
Gallligos already had a log prepped when Formosa called him to discuss the initiative, because he was planning a totem pole for his yard. “He phoned and said they had an idea for Kathaumixw,” Galligos said. “I said that sounds great to me. I told him I would start working on it and see where it goes. It would be great if we could work something out. I’ll just keep working on it and we’ll figure it out later.”
The totem pole is six and a half feet tall by about two feet wide, made from an old growth red cedar tree. It has an eagle on top, wings with a six-foot span, a sun on the eagle’s chest, feathers and talons and a beaver at the bottom, to represent Canada.
Galligos has been carving for about 10 years. Initially, he and his wife, Cathy, took a workshop at Tla’amin, where they learned the basics of carving. Galligos had more of an interest and continued to hone his skills, studying with Curtis Joe from Sechelt while he was going to school in Vancouver. While Cathy, who is expecting the couple’s third child in March, has carved a mask and a plaque, she now helps Galligos with his work, particularly by drawing the designs for the totem poles. Eight-year-old Cedar and six-year-old Hunter help as well, as Galligos works on the deck of his home. While the children don’t handle carving knives yet, they brush away the shavings and keep the pole clean.
More meetings followed the conversation with Galligos, this time together with Galligos and Tla’amin Chief Clint Williams, as well as with Jay Yule, School District 47’s superintendent of schools. The idea for the trip evolved into a trade mission, Formosa said.
School district officials could contribute to the project, Formosa said, and send representatives on the trip to deliver the totem pole and conduct student attraction at the same time. Powell River Regional Economic Development Society was also included in some of the meetings, on the same basis as the school district’s involvement.
A video would be produced to promote the community, with comments from, hopefully, prominent leaders, such as Prime Minister Stephen Harper, BC Premier Christy Clark, Grand Chief Shawn Atleo, national chief of the Assembly of First Nations, as well as Williams and Formosa. “This is a big deal,” Formosa said. “I would think that they would all want to give a one- or two-minute comment on camera. As we travel, the disc is played. We might have two or three stops before it gets to its destination.”
Formosa has a list of potential partners for the project, including seven from the private sector. “When you put this amongst 14 people, it’s not really that heavy a load,” he said. “It’s time to reinvest in Kathaumixw. Kathaumixw has been good to Powell River. It’s given us so much culture, so many new friends, new residents, new parents, new children, economic vibration every second summer.”
The next step is unveiling the project to the community and potential partners. Cummings is scheduled to attend the November 7 city committee-of-the-whole meeting to explain the idea to council and then to Tla’amin’s council.
