EDMONTON — The newly erected tipi in Old Strathcona marks Edmonton Fringe Festival's inaugural Indigenous curated venue called pêhonân.
The Cree word means "meeting place," an appropriate title for a stage dedicated to sharing Indigenous stories, Fringe organizers say.
"I've rarely seen my people and my stories in traditional theatre spaces like these type of festival settings. So this really, really is step one in that direction in having Fringe be that space where Indigenous communities can look at it and say, 'Hey, I belong there, I could maybe one day try putting a show together,'" Josh Languedoc told CTV News Edmonton.
"It starts with seeing themselves in a space."
The tipi was set up at Gateway Boulevard and 103 Street on Wednesday with help from Enoch Cree Nation's Uncle Hopi, and will be built every day at noon until Aug. 22.
Languedoc, an actor and director, also serves as the festival's first director of Indigenous strategic planning. The organization is making a concerted effort to be more representative, and festival artistic director Murray Utas has called an Indigenous venue a long-time goal.
"Yes, theatre is a place of storytelling but we also have to ask that question of whose stories are being heard and seen the most?" Languedoc said. "Typically theatre has been 'canonized' as a Eurocentric, dogmatic… epistemology."
Of the highly visible, open location on Gateway Boulevard, he added, "What better symbol of sovereignty and 'I'm here and we're still here' than building a giant tipi right outside the venue?"
"It's an open invitation to come hang out and connect with us."
Fringe runs Aug. 12-22 and will feature both live and digital performances.
pêhonân's next event on Aug. 19, produced by Darrel Joe Brertton, explores how the mind "can attract what you think" and features Indigenous dance and stories.
With files from CTV News Edmonton's Evan Klippenstein
