Community Arts Ontario and De-ba-jeh-mu-jig Theatre Group are collaborating on an unusual arts conference on Manatoulin Insland on Lake Huron in the north of the provice, where the theater group makes its home. (De-ba-jeh-mu-jig itself means "storytellers" in Cree and Ojibway.)

"Breathing Northwinds," June 8-10, 2007, has the theme "Bridge Building and Bridge Builders." It's meant specifically for Ontarians, and its goal is "to make the sector work differently." The organizers promise to treat all participants "as a group of people embarking on a journey of exploration together." The gathering will be "tek-free" (no electronics) and there wil be no written transcripts. Participants will be known only by their first names and where they live. The byword is: "Come as the person you are, not the job that you have." Activities will include games with challenges played on a giant map of Ontario. Teams with a mix of urban and isolated/remote practitioners will plan and execute a fictional community arts project in a northern community. There will be feasts, socials, storytelling, drumming and singing.

Manatoulin (pop. 13,000) is five hours north of Toronto; you reach it by the Chi-Cheemaun Ferry from Tobermory or by the swing bridge at Little Current. There is no public transport on Manatoulin, and no parking.

De-ba-jeh-mu-jig Theatre Group, the first professional theater company established in a First Nation community, is located on the Wikwemikong Unceded Indian Reserve. Its mainstage performance venue—the Holy Cross Mission Ruins—is an historic, stone-walled structure open to the sky and overlooking Wikwemikong Bay. The theater's National Aboriginal Arts Animator Program is located in the historic neighboring town of Manitowaning—a new, fully equipped, state-of-the-art training and production center, adjoining an historic 1892 general store.

   

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