The story of young Nawbin as they leave home and set out on a rites of passage through a season of their life. Their journey along the water to discover their truth and way back to themselves and ancestral knowledge. Along the way they discover unexpected friends, weather storms, and gain a canoe! Through the use of puppetry, traditional Anishinaabe lifeways, and multimedia design, Skeleton Canoe makes known what is just below the water’s surface. Presented by All My Relations Collective. Premiering at the Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival in January 2025. Click here for a full schedule of performances and workshops.
Collaborators: Ty Defoe, Katherine Freer, Mark Denning, Lux Haac, Emma Deane, Olivia Shortt, Tanya Orellana, Amanda Sayed, Katrina Brown Akootchook, The Great Lakes LIfeways Institute, and the Chicago Puppet Shop.
Co-commissioned by The Chicago International Puppet Theatre Festival. Skeleton Canoe was made possible with funding by the New England Foundation for the Arts' National Theater Project, with lead funding from the Mellon Foundation and additional funding from the Doris Duke Foundation. Skeleton Canoe recieved a MacDowell Fellowship and MAP Fund Grant. Thank you to the New Victory Theatre and The Tank for your support during our development and rehearsal period. Thank you to the JKW fund for your belief in and support of this important work.
Macdowell Fellowship
December 2022 Ty Defoe and Kate Freer journey to the MacDowell residency for a story and puppet development residency.
Chicago Internation Puppet Festival work-in-progress showing
January 29th + 30th 2021 the team came together for the first time to present a work-in-progress of Skeleton Canoe at the American Indian Center of Chicago in partnership with the International Puppet Festival of Chicago.
Collaborators: Ty Defoe, Katherine Freer, Mark Denning, Lux Haac, Emma Deane, Oliva Shortt, Katrina Brown Akootchook, Kris Waymire, Blair Thomas, Kevin Finney, Maggie Finney, Angus Bush, Jenna Wood, Jae Vega, Amanda Sayed, Ari Berk
Alongside the performance, The Great Lakes Lifeways Institute lead a Bark Etching workshop, free for the community to learn some of the traditional techniques that went into creating some of the objects in the piece.
Contact
Feel free to contact us with any questions.
Email
SkeletonCanoe@gmail.com