Kehewin Native Dance Theatre was born out of a bullying incident almost 35 years ago. Today the family-run troupe is recognized worldwide as “Canada’s most celebrated Native dance theatre.”
Rosa and Melvin John and their young family were living near Peterborough, Ontario where Melvin was attending Trent University. Their youngest daughter Beany had just been born, and the older kids were attending school in the town of Keene.
“They started school and my son had long braids,” Rosa said. “They all had long braids, but my son too had little braids. And we didn’t know, but apparently he was getting teased all the time and my kids were all getting harassed on the bus.”
The kids had tried to deal with the bullying on their own. When Rosa found out about it she reached out to the bullies’ parents, but got nowhere. Finally she went to the school principal.
Rosa explained that the kids’ braids were a part of their culture; that they had missed some school sports events because they were participating in powwows, dancing, and other activities.
“I told him the kids were all dancers. And the big question was, well, ‘what do they dance? We want to see them dance as well.’”
So the family performed for the school kids and their parents, with Rosa telling some stories.
“And didn’t it just spread all over after that?” Rosa remembers. “We did storytelling and Native dance. And they told somebody. And then somebody told somebody.
“We started doing storytelling and dance. And then we started doing theatre stories, more contemporary dance, and then we started blending them, doing contemporary and Powwow and it just took off.”
The family moved to Calgary where Rosa and Melvin completed their Masters degrees. Amid their studies and jobs, and raising seven children, the dance company continued to develop and grow.
Ultimately the family moved home to Kehewin.
“It was going international already. We had been to Mexico and Hawaii and we were going all over Europe and New Zealand a couple of times,” Rosa said.
In Canada or internationally, the mission is as much to teach and share as it is to perform. Rosa says most non-Indigenous audiences are open to learning.
But the teaching is as important for Indigenous people as it is for non-Indigenous audiences. Through years of colonization and attempts at assimilation, Indigenous cultures were repressed, often violently. The traditional dances and stories were forced underground as those who practiced Native culture faced persecution, imprisonment, even death.
Rosa says that although the culture respects its deep roots, it can’t be stuck in the pre-colonial past. It has to change and evolve—as it always has—to reflect the way people live.
“It’s always been like that. Indigenous cultures throughout North and South America have always been constantly redeveloping, they’re not going to stay stagnant. You have to grow with what’s around you,” she said.
A strong, living culture can offer strength and resilience. Rosa says many young Indigenous people are turning to their culture as a positive influence.
“They’re saying ‘I’m not going to do drugs and alcohol. I want to live a clean life.’ You’ll see that a lot of the young people have chosen that way now and have chosen education. Lots of young Native people in the university now, it’s just beautiful.
“The growth and development of indigenous culture in Canada is very, very strong, very powerful.”
Rosa and her family have found strength in their culture to help them deal with personal tragedy. Rosa and Melvin’s son Jody died earlier this year, and while Rosa says she hasn’t been able to resume dancing, she has found strength, comfort, and solace through her culture.
Through professional challenges including unpredictable funding, and pain from the loss of Jody, Kehewin Native Dance Theatre perseveres. They have been busy since early spring, and won’t have a day off in June. Beany is home from performing overseas.
They do it to teach, just like when they started out. They do it for their community. And as much as anything, they carry on for each other.
“We are three generations performing,” Rosa said. “We do it for the regular community, but it’s also about my family.”
