White Girls in Moccasins

The University of Winnipeg presents White Girls in Moccasins by Yolanda Bonnell (She/They) a Bi/Queer 2 Spirit Anishinaabe-Ojibwe, South Asian mixed performer, playwright and multidisciplinary creator/facilitator. From Fort William First Nation in Thunder Bay, Ontario (Superior Robinson Treaty territory), their arts practice is now based in Tkarón:to.

White Girls in Moccasins is an urgent exploration of healing and reclamation of Indigenous culture. Miskozi (she is red) is an Anishinaabe-femme reeling from the effects of colonization. She is lost in a storm of pop-culture, gameshows, old lovers, and internalized whiteness. She is tired. She is searching. She is fighting. Out of the storm emerges Waabishkizi (she is white), a representation of the whiteness within, and offers a chance to meet the parts of ourselves we need to heal. All the while Ziibi (river) the ancestor, flows around the story offering a pathway, but only when we’re ready.

This show is survivance, survivance is survival plus resistance offers Anishinaabe scholar Gerald Visnor. White Girls in Moccasins is an incredible opportunity to celebrate the continued power of Indigenous peoples to resist colonization and (re)discover their cultural practices. Through song, storytelling, and movement White Girls in Moccasins celebrates survivance in all its form. Although there are moments of pain in the healing, ultimately the journey is one of good medicine. Our stories are medicine, and this one is just about as good of medicine as you can get.

“I wrote this story for all of us who feel whitewashed and are fumbling through reclamation. A reminder that you are just as Indigenous whether you are able and ready or even want to engage in culturally specific ways of living or not.” says award winning playwright Yoanda Bonnell. “As the colonial apocalypse continues to rage on around us, inside of us, everywhere—I have to keep remembering the importance of storytelling within the revolution; uplifting our communities by letting them know that they are not alone. I hope you find that in this story.”

Director – Philip Geller

Stage Manager - Keira Jordan

Set Designer - Anyinmachi Chijioke

Costume Designer - Amanda Jones

Lighting Designer - Delton Kreller

Movement Director - Aria Evans

Scenic Painter – Sharon Johnson

Master Carpenter – Aaron Frost

Head of Sound- Lauren Gomes

Head of Lights- Colin Hildebrand

Head of Set- Noah Bordeaux

Head of Props - Sarah Rossen

Photos – Amber Leblanc-Peitsch

Assistant Stage Manager - Meg Chrest 

Assistant Stage Manager - Willow Isaac 

Cast

Miskozi - Mary Catagas

Miskozi - Mady Richard

Waabishkizi - Renelle Chartier

Waabishkizi - Jen Gieg