Imagine a hot July afternoon, the thunderheads are just beginning to gather on the horizon and the air is so soaked with humidity that you can almost swim though it. Now add to that concrete, steel and more than one million people and you have the backdrop for the 39th annual Folklife Festival in Washington DC June 30 – July 11.

This is the first year the Folklife Festival, a yearly celebration of community-based art and culture put on by the Smithsonian Centre for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, will feature a Canadian Province. In addition to the more than 100 Albertan musicians, tradesmen, poets, artisans and one giant oils sands dump truck, there will be some Alberta Métis, including accomplished bead and quill worker Mellisa Jo Moses, weaver and fashion designer Laura McLaughlin and Juno nominated a capellea group, Asani.

While excited by the prospect of such prestigious venues (in addition to the Folklife Festival, Asani will be performing June 30th at the Kennedy Center), and the honour of being able to represent the Métis people to such a large audience, the weather presents some unique problems to Asani singer Debbie Houle.

“I understand the heat is going to be unbearable,” Houle said about the upcoming festival. “So we have been out trying to get stuff that is going to keep us cool.”

The heat and humidity affect not just personal comfort, but the group’s equipment as well. Drums made and played in the dry Alberta climate cannot withstand the high levels of heat and humidity that will be present in Washington. The drum skins will begin to stretch and loose their elasticity, and may end up sounding more like cardboard boxes being banged on rather than musical instruments. Luckily, the members of Asani have anticipated this problem and already arranged to work with a drum maker in Washington DC upon their arrival.

Weaver Laura McLaughlin is also apprehensive about the expected heat. “I am not nervous about talking to people, or weaving in front of people, I am nervous because apparently it is 100 per cent humidity there and the temperature is in the 90’s,” she said.

McLaughlin has been designing clothing inspired by Métis designs and symbols since 1992, and has only been weaving sashes for the last two and a half years, but feels the combination of the two helped get her chosen to demonstrate her sash weaving skills during the festival. While she will spend from 11a.m. to 5:30 p.m. each day speaking about the sash and working on the loom, she doubts she will get much work done, but she has already sent down 100 sash lapel pins and 200 friendship bracelets based on the sash design to be sold in a common market.

Additionally, McLaughlin has designed and created ribbon shirts for the members of Asani to wear while performing at the Kennedy centre.

While McLaughlin weaves her sashes and Asani sings their songs, another artisan, Mellisa Jo Mosses will be demonstrating beadwork, quillwork, moose hair embroidery and possibly fish scale art.
 
“As far as the style of my work … I try to use my heritage and my background to sort of look and find things that represent the Métis people,” Moses said about her work.

In addition to being able to present their crafts during the festival, McLaughlin and Moses may have the chance to leave something behind at the Smithsonian when they go home.

Becky Haberacker a representative of the Folklife Centre says that often artisans donate works of art they created during the festival to the Smithnium. Sometimes completely new exhibitions have developed out of Folklife programs.

“It is not ‘we host the festival and then we are done’,’” she said over a telephone interview. “It definitely provides content, whether it is an object or research for the institution.”

In addition to Alberta, there are two other programs at this year’s Folklife festival: Native basketry, and Latino Chicago. There will also be an evening concert series featuring New Orleans music. Other Alberta representation included hockey and fly-fishing demonstrations, Ukrainian, Francophone and First Nations Dance presentations and representatives from several occupations including oil sands workers (complete with a large dump truck).

Albertans who are unable to travel to Washington to take part in the Festival can still keep tabs on the goings on south of the border. Many of the artists, including Asani will be keeping blogs (online diaries) about their time in Washington. A link to the diaries is posted on the Internet at http://www.albertaindc.com/ , along with more details about presenters and festival details.
 
 
By Monique Devlin