Wilfrid Laurier University Press Release:

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“Giiwedin (The North Wind), blends Baroque and traditional Indigenous music and aesthetics. It was written and co­composed by librettist Spy Dénommé­Welch, an Aboriginal education consultant at Laurier, and Catherine Magowan. Written in Anishnaabemowin, French and English, and set in Northeastern Ontario, Giiwedin tells the story of Noodin­Kwe, a 150­year­old Aboriginal woman, and her struggle to protect her ancestral land.

“‘This production offers a unique opportunity to our students to engage with First Nations history and culture, most of them for the very first time,’ said Professor Kimberly Barber, administrative coordinator of Opera at Laurier. ‘It also allows us to tell an important and mostly untold story about first contact and its impacts and implications in a way that is both accessible and theatrically intense, while allowing students to collaborate with the Aboriginal community.'”