Black & Rural Saskatchewan
Early in 2021, Heritage Saskatchewan reached out to British Columbia-based artist and folklorist, Shayna Jones to collaborate on its latest living heritage project for her work and experience elevating the voices of rural-dwelling African Canadians. From there, “Black & Rural Saskatchewan,” was born in partnership with the Saskatchewan African Canadian Heritage Museum (SACHM) and the Provincial Archives of Saskatchewan.
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Living Heritage is fundamental to our sense of identity, belonging and place and integral to building community. Resilient communities are those built on cross-cultural understanding and the willingness and ability to negotiate a shared set of values and a shared future.
Heritage Saskatchewan's focus is upon engaged citizenship through community development initiatives and educational programming; and safeguarding Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) as a part of holistic approaches to community development.
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Early in this collaboration, Jones conducted a series of interviews to understand the Saskatchewan “Black and rural” experience. She spoke with a range of individuals, including descendants of the first African Canadian settlers in Saskatchewan, who shared passed-down stories as well as their own personal accounts. She also spoke with recent immigrants who imparted their struggles and triumphs living as a dark-skinned person in rural Saskatchewan.
Inspired by these stories, Jones created a performance that interprets the words shared with her over the course of her conversations, as well as a book, that you can check out below. Performances took place in
You can see more of Jones' work at her website: we are STORYFOLK.
Image credit: original art by Marieke de Roos