Show of strengths

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 21/06/2008 (6479 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Before he gets around to the emotionally wrenching task of saying goodbye to sitcom cop Davis Quinton for the final time, actor Lorne Cardinal wants to say hello to the entire nation.

The veteran performer and Corner Gas cast member will host the Winnipeg portion of Aboriginal Day Live ’08, a three-hour celebration that airs tonight at 7 p.m. as part of APTN’s coverage of National Aboriginal Solidarity Day. Winnipeg-born comedian-actor Don Kelly will host the show’s other stage, in Yellowknife, N.W.T.

“When they called and asked me to host, I jumped at the chance,” Cardinal says in a telephone interview during a break from shooting the sixth and final season of Corner Gas in the tiny town of Rouleau, Sask. “It’s quite an honour; it’s kind of like being a spokesperson for Aboriginal Day.”

The talent roster for Aboriginal Day Live ’08’s Winnipeg stage (at The Forks) includes rising country-music star Shane Yellowbird, actor-singer Cheri Maracle, jazz stylist Dalannah Brown, singer-songwriter Marcel Souloudre and country-folk duo Tracy Bone and J.C. Campbell.

Up in Yellowknife, Kelly and co-host Madeleine Allakariallak will introduce rap artist Litefoot, actor-singer Tamara Podemski, throat singer Celina Kalluk, Juno-winning Yellowknife native Leela Gilday and blues artists Indigenous.

“Yeah, getting to introduce all that incredible talent we have, on both stages, is pretty phenomenal,” says Cardinal. “I think everyone should see these performers.”

Cardinal also points out that his hosting of Aboriginal Day Live ’08 also represents another important first — APTN’s long-awaited entry into the realm of high-definition broadcasting (tonight’s event will only be available in HD to Bell ExpressVu subscribers, but the network is looking to expand its HD distribution in coming months).

This year’s version of National Aboriginal Solidarity Day is bound to have an added impact, coming as it does on the heels of Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s nationally televised apology to survivors of residential-school horrors.

“That apology has been a long time coming … and I don’t think one apology can reverse all the pain and suffering that people have gone through,” says Cardinal. “I don’t know how they’re going to incorporate it into the show, but I would love to broach the subject on national television.

“I’d like to give some respect to the survivors who are living with this every day, struggling every day with living their day-to-day lives with all the physical and emotional scarring that they carry and yet still somehow being beautiful brown people every day.”

Cardinal said he shares the view of local TV producer-host Lisa Meeches, who opined recently that Canada’s aboriginal peoples are on the cusp of sweeping cultural changes and, perhaps, some very significant achievements.

“I have that sense, definitely,” he says. “We’ve lost a lot of our leaders over the last few years, through sickness and age; a lot of our leaders have been called back. I lost my father a few weeks ago; he was a spiritual mover and shaker and a political warrior.

“So we are on the cusp of something, and it’s time for our generation to step up and take over. We can’t keep relying on our elders to do it for us; we have to take that step forward and carry forward all the work that has been done before.”

He added that he hopes the audience for Aboriginal Day Live ’08 extends beyond the First Nations and M ©tis population and deep into the Canadian mainstream.

“It’s great for all of Canada,” Cardinal explains. “I think aboriginal people have been — maybe not on purpose — excluded from the Canadian fabric, and this is our chance to show that we have a lot to offer that will make this country stronger and more vibrant. If people will just open up their minds and hearts, they’ll see the beauty and the love that we have and that we’re willing to share.”

After completing his hosting duties, Cardinal will, of course, return to Rouleau to resume work on the final run of Corner Gas episodes before the show shuts down production for good at summer’s end.

For now, he said, it’s pretty much business as usual, but with every morning’s call sheet and each completed episode, there’s a growing sense among the cast and crew that something very special is about to come to an end.

“It’s pretty great right now,” he says. “But I think come August the reality will start to set in and we’ll be a very emotional bunch of people. We’ve got such a great crew; it’s going to be sad not to be with them every summer.”

After Corner Gas, Cardinal plans to relocate to the West Coast to see what kind of work he can generate in B.C.’s TV and film community, both as an actor and as a producer. He has, he declares emphatically, no intention to take his act south to give Hollywood a try.

“I’m a Canadian actor,” he proclaims. “I love working up here, and there’s enough work up here. And if there isn’t, I’ll just have to create my own.”

Being Canadian, obviously, is a subject that tends to make Cardinal quite emotional. As is being native, but that doesn’t mean his approach to National Aboriginal Solidarity Day is anything approaching serious and stuffy.

“It’s going to be a great Aboriginal Day,” he laughs. “I’m going to dub it ‘Hug an Indian Day,’ and hopefully, we’ll get that happening in the crowd.”

The live lineup

ABORIGINAL DAY LIVE ’08 on APTN

(times CDT, subject to change as the live broadcast progresses)

The Forks Stage:

6 p.m. — Introduction by APTN National News: Contact host Cheryl McKenzie

6:05 p.m. — Welcoming remarks from host Lorne Cardinal

7 p.m. — Marcel Souloudre

7:15 p.m. — J.C. Campbell & Tracy Bone

7:55 p.m. — Cheri Maracle

8:15 p.m. — Dalannah Bowen

9 p.m. — Team Rezofficial

9:30 p.m. — Shane Yellowbird

Yellowknife Stage:

5 p.m. — Welcoming remarks from host Don Kelly and Madeleine Allakariallak

5:15 p.m. — Tulita Dene Drummers

6 p.m. — Tamara Podemski

6:30 p.m. — Diga

7 p.m. — Dora Pudluks

7:25 p.m. — Litefoot

7:55 p.m. — Leela Gilday

8 p.m. — Indigenous

National Aboriginal Day events:

9 a.m. to 10 p.m.: Celebration at Selkirk Park in Selkirk.

10 a.m. and 3 p.m.: Selkirk Avenue Community Celebration at 470 Selkirk Ave., including performances by Shingoose, Little Hawk and the Asham Stompers.

12:30 p.m.: Kevin Chief, co-ordinator of the University of Winnipeg’s Innovative Learning Centre, will be receiving the sixth annual Manitoba Hydro Spirit of the Earth Award at the main stage at the Red River Exhibition. The award recognizes environmental achievements by aboriginal people. The centre runs Eco-Kids and Enviro-Tech programs.

1 to 10 p.m.: Manito Ahbee, a festival for all nations, at Red River Exhibition Park.

Powwow competition from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. with $4,000 in prize money.

Entertainment on the main stage from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. features the Asham Stompers, the Darren Lavallee Band, and the DJ St. Germain Band.

5:15 p.m.: Aboriginal Day Live ’08 at the Scotiabank Stage at The Forks. Hosted by Lorne Cardinal and presented by the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network, it features several aboriginal performers, including Shane Yellowbird, Tracy Bone and Cheri Maracle. Earlier in the day at The Forks, there will be aboriginal programming and storytelling.