Yes, we are planning for a big beautiful One Wave Gathering this September!
Pacific Peoples’ Partnership is committed to bringing you One Wave Gathering, our annual celebration of South Pacific and Indigenous arts, culture, and knowledge this Fall.
We feel that in times like these, it is more important than ever to connect with each other, find strength in our cultures, and practice solidarity.
At One Wave Gathering, artists, speakers, and leaders share stories through song, dance, theatre, traditional food, and art. One Wave is a vision articulated by many voices and an opportunity for guests of all ages to learn and interact with Pacific knowledge keepers and artists. This year’s gathering will celebrate allyship and resilience, as communities from the North and South Pacific come together in the spirit of navigating shared waters.
This year’s events will be delivered to you in new and innovative ways, with all events delivered within the safe protocols of social distancing and/or offered online. Whether at our virtual or small in-person events, you can count on a wave of thought-provoking programming, resilient peoples, and inspiring art and stories.
All events will be free and will span throughout the month of September.
Some of our events planned this year include:
A Virtual Feast: Honouring and Revitalizing Indigenous Food Systems in partnership with UVic CIRCLE
November 10th, 3:00 PM – 4:30 PM (Pacific Time)
Indigenous peoples and communities have close relationships with the land and the food it provides. This interactive panel explores the ways that Indigenous peoples are seeking climate justice and honouring the complex relationships between land, water and food systems on Lekwungen and W̱SÁNEĆ territories as well as in Papua New Guinea. We will also premiere the film Rising Tides, which is based on a January 2020 gathering around food security and Indigenous climate justice.
Pacific Story & Song
Pacific Peoples’ Partnership is excited to invite you to Pacific Story and Song, a one-time live-streamed storytelling event for the whole family! Join us online for an uplifting evening of storytelling and song celebrating local Indigenous and South Pacific culture and community.
You can sign up for the livestream here.
Pacific Story and Song will feature an amazing group of Indigenous and South Pacific storytellers, poets & musicians featuring Anela Kahiamoe, Nate Harris, Erin Blondeau, Nahaan, and Tiffany Joseph… with special guest Rena Owen (Once Were Warriors & Star Wars)!
Pacific Story and Song is part of our One Wave Gathering series and presented in partnership with Sunset Labs.
Orange Shirt Day First Nations Market and Mural invites the community to participate on September 30th at Royal Beach in Colwood BC. The market is a joint venture between Lekwungen Peoples now known as Songhees and Esquimalt Nations and Pacific Peoples’ Partnership. This market will create a chance for the community to participate in and recognize Orange Shirt Day in a socially distanced outdoor setting. It will culminate in the creation of a “roaming” orange shirt day mural which will be contributed to by members of the community. There is no cost to attend.
Pop-up events
Come and enjoy amazing Pacific & Indigenous music, art, and workshops – at a safe social distance! Many events will not be advertised in advance due to COVID-19 protocols.
Join us on social media so you don’t miss out!
Digital media exhibition
MediaNet FLUX Gallery was kind enough to allow us to enter and use their space from September 3 – 18 for our exhibit: Together / As One featuring media and art by Indigenous and Pacific artists. The event was a great success with over 100 visitors.
If you missed out on seeing the Exhibit in person, you can watch a tour of Together / As One right here!
Some of the featured works included:
© Tony Spracket
Peace Dancer is a theatrical performance and reading by Roy Henry Vickers of his book that shares an important message of peace. This performance was staged by Theatre Inconnu and Puppets for Peace with local Indigenous and non-Indigenous youth performers.
Flight of the Hummingbird is a youth opera performed by Pacific Opera Victoria and Opera Vancouver. This opera is based on an Indigenous parable from the Quechuan people of South America that also came to be told by Haida peoples. It was developed with librettist Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas and based on his Haida Manga of the same name.
We are also excited to announce the unveiling of the Pacific Peace House Post during this year’s One Wave!
The Pacific Peace Post is a symbolic house post carved collaboratively by Lekwungen carver Bradley Dick and Solomon Islands carver Ake Lianga. The Peace Post will overlook Pacific waters at Macaulay Point as a symbol of connection and peace between communities along the Pacific Ocean.
The Kairos Blanket Exercise invited people from all backgrounds to learn, reflect, and share with one another as we worked to address continuing injustices facing Indigenous communities. During the exercise, participants accompanied facilitators on a journey through Indigenous history in Canada, spanning pre-contact, treaty-making, colonization, and resistance. Blankets laid out on the ground provided a visual guide to the history lesson as participants walked through a set of interactive exercises that brought history to life. This event was held on September 26th.
At this year’s One Wave Gathering, you can also expect screenings of Indigenous and Pacific films, talks by Indigenous leaders, youth arts and more!
We hope to see familiar and new faces join the canoe at One Wave this year as we ride the next wave into resurgence!
To find out more or get involved, join us on
Facebook Instagram & Twitter
join our Pacific Currents e-news list for updates and Indigenous & Pacific news or email operations@archive.pacificpeoplespartnership.org
We are grateful to the Songhees and Esquimalt Nations.
One Wave Gathering is held on Lekwungen territory and made possible with the consent and consultations by hereditary and elected leaders, elders, youths, artists and community members.
Our amazing partners for this year’s One Wave include:
Songhees Nation, Esquimalt Nation, Vancouver Opera, UVIC CIRCLE (Center for Indigenous Research and Community-Led Engagement), Story Theatre, Puppets for Peace, Black Press Media, Metropol, Theatre Inconnu, Royal Beach, FLUX Media Gallery, City of Colwood, CFAX-CTV, Sunset Labs, Pacific Opera Victoria, Rika Design, Peppers Foods, Royal Scot Hotel and Suites, CRD, The Sign Pad, British Columbia Arts Council, Province of BC, Canadian Heritage, Township of Esquimalt, City of Victoria, Government of Canada
