UPDATE March 12: This concert has now been postponed until a future date, to be determined.
"This difficult decision was guided not only by global reports, but from trusted voices in the Indigenous health community for the concern of our most vulnerable community members’ immune systems," say organizers in a Facebook event post.
"While the situation in Wet’suwet’en is deserving of much more support and attention, at this time we will have to postpone and regroup when our community health concerns have been stabilized and we can gather at full capacity."
Organizers also say people may get refunds for already purchased tickets and will also look towards putting funds to the Unist'ot'en Legal Fund immediately for those who want to contribute the value of their ticket purchase to that cause. Organizers will also hold already purchased tickets for future event or events, if buyers so desire.
**
New Westminster residents who want to show solidarity with the Wet’suwet’en People can do so this Friday night – and enjoy a night of entertainment at the same time.
A Solidarity for Unist’ot’en concert is happening on Friday, March 13 at Massey Theatre. The concert is raising funds for Unist’ot’en Camp, the home base of the Wet’suwet’en People who are taking action against the Coastal GasLink pipeline crossing their traditional territory in northwestern B.C.
The concert is hosted by Ostwelve, a.k.a. Ronnie Dean Harris, an artist and activator. He has pulled together a varied lineup of performers that includes Tonye Aganaba, a multidisciplinary artist and musician; Old Soul Rebel, the duo of Chelsea D.E. Johnson and Lola Whyte; Curtis Clearsky and the Constellationz, a Vancouver-based group that’s offering up “Indigifunk” sounds; Kin Balam, with flamenco Mesoamerican-Indigenous Afro-Latin hip hop music; Mamarudegyal MTHC + Hope, bringing their Indigenous hip hop to the stage; Dakota Bear, an Indigenous hip hop artist and activist; and The Spiritual Warriors, who fuse songs/chants and language of the Lil’wat/St’át’imc people with contemporary music.
VJ KINOTROPY will provide visuals, and the Mr. Bannock food truck will be on site as well.
The Plaskett Gallery will be the setting for a screening of the film Invasion, a documentary about the Unist’ot’en camp, and an “action room” will be set up to give supporters a place to learn how they can take action to help.
There will also be vendors, a silent auction and a kids’ zone.
Admission is on a sliding scale, by donation ranging from $5 to $40. You can save seats at www.ticketsnw.ca. Donations will be accepted at the door for any seats that haven’t been sold in advance.
The concert is an authorized fundraiser for the Unist’ot’en Camp, with all proceeds to the Unist’ot’en Legal Fund. For more on the camp and how to help, see www.unistoten.camp.
