THE CHAN CENTRE for the Performing Arts at the University of British Columbia and Musqueam today announced initial details about the second annual Indigenous festival, ʔəm̓i ce:p xʷiwəl (Come Toward the Fire).

Taking place on September 16, just ahead of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation (September 30), the event will highlight a vast range of Indigenous artists from Musqueam and Indigenous nations across Turtle Island (North America). With a mandate to celebrate Indigenous culture, creativity, and community, the festival will feature free outdoor programming from 1 to 5:30 pm then a ticketed evening festival concert from 6 pm, all at Chan Centre for the Performing Arts.

The gathering’s hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ name was provided by Musqueam and elder Larry Grant, with thanks to Musqueam artist Miss Christie Lee Charles for suggesting the name “move toward the fire.” The fest’s overarching goal is to support the movement to return Indigenous voices to the forefront and bring them back to the centre—the fire—and the heart of the community, following generations of erasure through colonization and Indian Residential Schools.

“Musqueam is excited to partner with the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts and welcome Indigenous performers to our territory for the second year of ʔəm̓i ce:p xʷiwəl,” yəχʷyaχʷələq, Chief Wayne Sparrow, Musqueam Indian Band, says in a release. “In our culture, fire is the centre of our longhouses, where our ceremonial work takes place. Being called ‘toward the fire’ is a call to join us in this celebration of Indigenous cultural expression. We look forward to strengthening our relationship with the Chan Centre to continue uplifting Indigenous voices for many years to come.”

The 2023 lineup is loaded with changemakers and top talent.

Headlining act Black Belt Eagle Scout, aka Katherine Paul, is a Swinomish/Iñupiaq singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Paul, who was born and raised along the Skagit River on Puget Sound in the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community, grew up immersed in the musical traditions of her culture, performing as a jingle dress dancer with her family’s drum group, the Skagit Valley Singers. Her musical style has been compared to that of Feist, Snail Mail, and Julien Baker, with Pitchfork saying her “reverberant, wide-open sound suggests a sense of possibility and the broad sweep of history” Paul’s 2023 album, The Land, The Water, The Sky, was made in honour of her ancestral lands.

“Through gauzy instrumentation and driving percussion interspersed with hints of the Coast Salish music tradition, Paul paints the soundscape of the Pacific Northwest with an impressive clarity,” according to a release. “The album is a testament to community and the power of coming home, as she reflects on her COVID-era move from Portland, Oregon, back to Swinomish and the healing that followed. The Land, The Water, The Sky recognizes not only her own lineage but the history of the land itself. The music invites listeners to take a journey of healing and resistance through Paul’s eyes.”

This evening performance will be hosted by Musqueam’s Christie Lee Charles, who goes by the stage name Miss Christie Lee. A direct descendant of the great warrior Capilano, Charles is the City of Vancouver’s first Indigenous poet laureate as well as a rapper, storyteller, Coastal hand-drum singer, filmmaker, and speaker for her ancestors. (Charles will also perform a set during the day.) The xʷməθkʷəy̓əm artist and mother incorporates traditional knowledge and ancient hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ dialect into her work as a hip-hop artist and emcee, rapping about life, culture, and empowerment while encouraging Indigenous youth to be proud of their roots.