I’ll start with a simple question. Can you describe to me what your play is about? And what inspired it?

So, Omaagomaan is based on a character that I had created… that I been dreaming up. And she came from powwow. And I just pictured this weird creature coming from the ground: it’s all dirty and it’s part mercury.

You know the switch dances they have in powwows? I don’t know if they have it in your area but in Treaty 3, it’s where the men wear the women’s regalia. Anyways, they don’t allow use of traditional regalia, they just make it up, you know? And we used garbage! Oh my god—

So, the following weekend I had another dream. I saw this hand coming up. There was a tree that was broken over and it had a hand like (holds up their hand and contorts it) like this big (motions) and that’s how I imagined the Omaagomaan was coming out. Like, you know, from cheesy horror movies or whatever. Like that.

[laughs]

The idea just kept living here.

(points to their head)

I was just like, “Okay, there’s something here.” Eventually it evolved into Omaagomaan which comes from that dream, Anishinaabe stories, and the fight that my community has been having [with mercury poisoning in their water source]. 

How [it] connected with Troy was through random conversations. Just seeing how we can work together. I did a five minute performance piece at Two Spirit Cabaret. That was the start of it, and then from there I wanted to keep bringing back this character. That’s when I asked Troy to come in. It started from this five minute piece and we created it into 20 [minutes]. Then it just kept evolving and evolving and evolving.

Have you modified, or changed anything since? I guess, what was the last contribution that he made before Troy passed?

Well, I guess it would be the premier in Winnipeg.

What was your last time with Troy like? 

It would be the premiere as before the pandemic. Everything was shut down in the spring of 2020. It was really difficult for both of us. And it was really, really hard. And we had a bit of falling out. And it was… it was heartbreaking. 

I changed the clowning piece. I put more Anishinaabemowin in there. Then, I found a moment in our story for Troy to come down [from the spirit world], and I hugged him and set him back into the Milky Way. 

(near tears)

I created that piece in September and I feel like I get to have a choreographic conversation with Troy. Like, still dancin’ with him and I could still hear his voice and I could still feel his energy. I welcome that, and cherish it. Yeah I’m just happy that I get to have it. 

(cries) 

Interesting to me that you’re sitting there and you’re just kind of naturally kind of making these movements. To me, that’s Troy right there. You know, I think that’s something that he really left with all of us. His ability to access the energy in the room and just kind of make it this. 

When you talk about the falling out with Troy—being his younger brother—we’ve definitely had our falling out. That was one of the beauties of Troy. He was so open, vulnerable, and sharing of his passion which came with his demons. There was really no hiding away from that. So if you got Troy’s beauty then you definitely got the dark side of him as well, too. I’m still so angry at him for how he left. For leaving a lot of unfinished work because I felt there was so much more that he could have done, right? I know that he’s there with you. He has such a beautiful, beautiful, big open space for you in his heart, you know. He loved watching you up there [on stage]. And, you know, so it’s a beautiful thing that’s actually just watching you go like this:

(Garret mimics Waawaate’s motions)

(laughs through tears)

Yeah, sure he’s been around us. 

And it’s been like that when I’m creating, you know? When I was in Winnipeg, it was so raw then, right? It’s still raw but even more so back in September. I was living in this grief-stricken area because I also just lost my niece just before that, too. And then my brother earlier in the summer, so it’s just like (gasps in pain) a lot of people. From that September while in Winnipeg, at the Manitoba Museum [Art Holm Presentation], I could feel him there. I knew he was there. And I could just see him say, “Yaaaw, this one!’

Yeah, and I just did a lot of journaling during that time. Just to have conversations and it helped. I took [a trip down] memory lane—just him and I. And I remembered when we traveled across Canada, just both of us. I had to go pick them up in Wawa and we had to travel across the country. I take a bus, we spent the night and then drove off back to Calgary. That’s when he first met my partner, too.

I just remember us going through the night, and just talking about things that we see in the trees and we were [saying] “Ooh, l look at that!” Driving we’d see some sort of dark nature. Riding in the prairies, just talking about the cows and counting really fast in Ojibwe, like “Bezhig, Niizh, Niswin, Niiwin…” And Troy’s going “Yaaaw, what are you saying?!” 

It definitely feels like an embodiment of the Trickster of Troy’s energies as well. If you go out with him and you’re driving down the road, all of a sudden he’s looking at something. Then you’re sitting with him in the car and it seems like what’s happening in the car could be a play. It was all that beautiful chaos with him, actually. Do you feel that this is the final version that you said you’ve been adding to? Do you feel that there’s more growth to come out of it?

That’s why I wanted to ask that question actually, because I wanted you to—wait, there’s no script? How does that work Waa? (laughs) Well? How does the tech crew get cues?

Yeah, well, it’s mostly dancing, clowning, and grotesque! Well, cause I know Troy is clown and clown is dance. He has a great big “Aura”. Like, I used to call her Ursula. “Muh, you’re so Ursula!” from The Little Mermaid.

“Yaaaaw, that one right bit her!”

(laughs heartily)

And yeah, it’s gonna keep evolving. Because even just today, that moment of sacred fire where we meet ancestors—Troy is an ancestor too, now. So, it’’s choreography and clowning, so..

Oooh, okay. Yeah.

Movement, dance. And that’s what it is, just dancing. I had a rehearsal director come, and I’m trying different things with them. And they go “You’re doing too much!” Then that rehearsal director gave me that same exact note Troy did. 

It’s so funny, because we’d always hear things in the theater. Like that Rehearsal Director was just like, “Do you hear that?” I don’t know, just a bunch of weird things happened, and I just know, Troy’s around.

What is your rehearsal process like for this specific show without there being a script? And especially for a director coming in?

Oh, I expect them to just know the show just by opening their eyes in the theatre. 

The video I guess, and I send them a video of my performances.

(laughs)

The video I guess, and I send them a video of my performances. 

Cause it’s all by tracklist. Tracklist, tracklist, tracklist.

Oooh, okay, yeah!

I guess what we’ve been doing is [marking] what the next cue for the technicians is. A container within multiple containers. I just make sure I hit it.

That’s courageous, I gotta say. Because I don’t consider myself a dancer. Troy tried to force me into some movements, but it’s not my forte. So I need a script. I need to have direction to follow. That takes a lot of courage. Having worked with Troy seeing that genius of how you can choreograph the body to inform someone up in the booth. That’s just the magic of theatre. Sorry—this is a long winded question. How many ensemble plays have you done versus one man shows?

Well, I love ensemble work. I’d say I don’t even know.

You’re not improvising each time you go up there. No, right? 

No.

So there is a level of freedom that allows you to deviate from the way the show was performed the night before, so I guess but with that being said, am I going to see the same show in Toronto is what you’re performing right now. 

I’m in Montreal. The first part there’ll be the same thing, because it has to be consistent when we travel, because we’re giving you the same thing. And it’ll have its mark, it will be the same show. There’s a clown in there, and I love clowning, because it’s open ended.

What do you feel is the most poignant message or point of the show that hits you the most?

It’s like, to me when I go in, when I go into this Anishinaabe world that I know that I live in, I guess it’s a fantasy world that I like to play in. Then I put it on stage and you get to see all the images, the language, the song within that world and Troy is definitely in that world with me right now. 

Well, what would be the real world inspiration to write this play about some of the injustice that your community is suffering?

So yeah, it’s inspired by my community, because I’m losing family members to it [mercury poisoning] and then just seeing everyone around me be sick, and it attacks your nervous system. It’s quite difficult and debilitating. Just watching my brother using a cane, and he’s only five years older than me. And I’m checking my levels [of mercury poisoning] and was just waiting to hear back.

When we first caught on that our community had mercury poisoning, Canada sent in their doctors who denied its presence, saying, “No, you guys don’t have that.” So we had to seek international help because Canadian doctors were essentially denying our reality. They used various excuses to reject the truth of our suffering from mercury poisoning. We had to confront the fact that Canada was lying and covering up the truth. International doctors confirmed our condition, stating, “Yes, you are poisoned by mercury.” This ongoing fight is necessary because Canadian doctors are either unaware or unwilling to acknowledge the reality of mercury poisoning, highlighting their incompetence.

So this continues to be an ongoing issue for your nation right now.

Yeah, yep. My brother is still sick, and finally some recognition is happening. Things are taking way too long. I’m still waiting to hear regarding mine. 

I was on the plane and activist Julie da Silva from Grassy Narrows was coming to Montreal to get an award for her activism and spread awareness about her mercury poisoning. I was doing the exact same thing basically!

There were a lot of these moments. Thinking, this is a coincidence. Omaagomaan is calling. No matter how many of these blocks, somehow she pushes through, she pushes through—how she comes up from the ground. She’s pushing through. That’s a regurgitating theme in my head. She regurgitates, over and over.

So I eat all of you all, no one comes out alive! 

(laughs)

Good! Good! No one’s left unscathed! Right on. 

(laughing)