Justice – Page 2 – Cahoots Festival

February 18, 2023

Migrant Workers Exploitation: Learn and Act

(12+)

with Varka Kalaydzhieva + Sabrina Chiefari + Leah Watkiss

For years, migrant workers coming to Canada have been subjected to exploitation by employers, landlords, supervisors. Many are underpaid, overworked, abused. This experiential exercise leads participants to experience the exploitation migrant workers face when they arrive in Canada. Through a role-play, participants are guided through some of the exploitation workers experience at various stages of their migration, such as recruitment debt, dangerous work conditions, unlawful pay deductions, and crowded and unsanitary living conditions. After a debrief, the participants are asked to engage in various forms of support, advocacy and reflection.

about the facilitators

Varka is Project Manager in the Ministry for Social Justice, Peace, and Creation Care with the Sisters of St. Joseph of Toronto (CSJ). She has in interest and experience in various social justice issues, including migrant justice and human trafficking. Leah is Ministry Director of the CSJ Ministry for Social Justice, Peace, and Creation Care. She holds an M.A. in Peace and Justice from the University of San Diego. Sabrina is a Catholic Environmental Educator from Tkaronto/Toronto. As Creation Care Animator for the CSJ, she’s a long time proponent of Deep Ecology and Integral Ecology. She holds a certificate in Community Arts Practice and an undergraduate degree in Environmental Studies from York University.

the title of the workshop - migrant workers exploitation learn and act - in a rainbow design with the photos of the facilitators (3 women) in the background

February 18, 2023February 18, 2023

Drag as a Spiritual Practice: Theology and Performance Art

with Julian Munro / King Julez

What is Drag? This workshop will go over the history of the art form, and very key figures in the development and popularization of the art. Participants will learn the different forms of drag, queer performance, theatre, and music. Through this workshops, participants will be guided through different skills and themes that artists have needed through the ages, and how drag can now fit into religious spheres as an expression of theology.

about the facilitator

Julian/ King Julez (they/them) is the chair of Affirm United/S’affirmer Ensemble, a national non-profit organization that works for full inclusion and affirmation of 2S-LGBTQ+ folks in religious spaces and in all of society, and a board member for Student Christian Movement. After getting a BA in Diversity and Equity, King Julez is studying their Masters of Divinity with the goal of becoming a drag clown reverend with their own congregation to serve.

the title of the workshop - Drag as a spiritual practice - in a rainbow design with the painted face of the facilitator behind the title but still visible

April 28, 2022

Engaging Settlers in Solidarity Action with Indigenous Land Defenders

with Layla Staats + Skyler Williams + Erik Lankin + Scott Morton Ninomiya (moderator)

This conversation led by Indigenous Land Defenders involved in the 1492 Landback Lane movement will explore the possibilities for engaging Settlers in this work. We will hear how Settlers can act effectively in solidarity with Indigenous Land Defenders responding to colonial violence from the systems funded with Settler taxes. Includes a moderated Q&A. This session is designed to engage and equip Settlers for action. Participants are welcome to sign up for a subsequent training session on direct action delivered by Christian Peacemaker Teams.

about the facilitators

Layla Staats is a Haudenosaunee Land Defender who has supported a variety of Indigenous sovereignty movements. Skyler Williams is a Haudenosaunee Land Defender who has served as a spokesperson for 1492 Landback Lane. Erik Lankin is a settler ally who has supported the Landback movement and worked to communicate with and recruit other settlers. Scott Morton Ninomiya is a settler working with Mennonite Central Committee on matters of Indigenous solidarity.

March 21, 2022

Take a SACRED Pause

(All ages. Younger children may need an older accompanier.)

with Shannon Neufeldt

Cahoots is all about taking a pause from our everyday lives to rejuvenate and retool, rest and relate. This workshop invites you to deepen that focus by reconnecting with the Earth. We’ll begin in a collected fashion to learn from Indigenous wisdom together. We’ll then disperse across the camp to engage in a personal (or family/partnered) SACRED Pause. This simple practice uses the words Sense, Appreciate, Connect, Respect, Express, Delight (SACRED) to guide us in remembering or discovering how to be in relationship with creation – a relationship of love and respect. Some guiding questions will be provided to assist you in connecting with Mother Earth. A closing circle will be offered for those who wish. If you like to write or draw as you reflect, bring a journal and pen but this is not necessary. Everyone should be prepared to be outside. Suitable for all ages and abilities. This workshop is based on a resource by the same name put out by For the Love of Creation.

about the facilitator

Shannon loves creation and is simply offering the type of workshop she wants to participate in. Shannon is on staff at KAIROS Canada, a social justice organization with roots in eight Christian denominations, and is privileged to convene the Local Engagement group of For the Love of Creation which seeks to engage people of faith across the country in coming together to make a meaningful contribution to climate sustainability. Shannon and her family have attend Cahoots a number of times and always appreciate the people, the energy, the good ideas and the fun.

March 21, 2022

Engaging Settlers in Solidarity Action with Indigenous Land Defenders

with Layla Staats + Skyler Williams + Erik Lankin + Scott Morton Ninomiya (moderator)

about the facilitators

Layla Staats is a Haudenosaunee Land Defender who has supported a variety of Indigenous sovereignty movements. Skyler Williams is a Haudenosaunee Land Defender who has served as a spokesperson for 1492 Landback Lane. Erik Lankin is a settler ally who has supported the Landback movement and worked to communicate with and recruit other settlers. Scott Morton Ninomiya is a settler working with Mennonite Central Committee on matters of Indigenous solidarity.

March 21, 2022

Climate Grief

(13+)

with Anna Bigland-Pritchard

Participants can expect to create a container to uncover inner resources for coping with climate grief, and more safely explore our feelings about the climate crisis. Participants can expect an expressive arts approach, which can include movement, music, visual art, and writing. No experience with those mediums is necessary to participate.

about the facilitator

Deeply resourced by studies in expressive arts therapy, as well as extensive classical music and community leadership training, Anna uses a mindful, earth-centred practice of art-making to help others to feel supported through the joys and challenges of life. Anna believes art must be activism, true self-care and community-care are an act of bold resistance, and that the expressive arts are a tool for both self-care and social change.

March 21, 2022

Take To The Streets

with Rachelle Friesen + Julie Brown

DESCRIPTION TO COME

about the facilitators

Rachelle (she/her) trained with Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) in 2017. Since then she has been the Canada Coordinator for CPT which has allowed her to do accompaniment work in Iraqi Kurdistan and at the US Mexico Border. She is also the coordinator for the Turtle Island Solidarity Network that focuses on Indigenous solidarity. Prior to working with CPT, Rachelle spent 5 years in Palestine doing peace work. Rachelle has a passion and background in nonviolent direct action, decolonization, and local peacemaking. Julie trained with CPT in 2015 and spent four years on the CPT Iraqi Kurdistan field team before taking a position as CPT’s Outreach Coordinator.

March 21, 2022

Ritual and Community Building

(All ages welcome, but participants should know that mature content and language will be used.)

with Kimmothy Cole

The creation and engagement of shared culture invites us into community. In environments where folx assemble from various backgrounds, the formation of shared culture can be a key to unlock a sense of shared vision. Ritual is one way to co-create a shared identity based on the specific needs and preferences of community participants. Ritual and Community Building begins with conversation and Kimmothy sharing about the structure and tools of ritual. Participants will then utilize this information and their own knowledge and aesthetic preferences to practice inventing new rituals for their daily practice or community space. Participation in ritual building is encouraged, but observers are welcome.

about the facilitator

Kimmothy Cole (they/them) is an educator, collaborator, performer, designer and ritual artist. Their work is oriented around small-impact, ripple-effect methods of sharing that include healing practices, space creation and equipping members of their community to (re)discover their capacity to be the authors of the changes they wish to see. Their work grows from experiences with devised theatre, songwriting, herbalism, LARP (live action role playing), faith-based community practices, choreography, immersive performance and community organizing. They are currently serving as the Coordinator for Communitas, a community initiative and sacred collective based out of Austin, TX. Their ritual, instructional and performance work has been featured at festivals, venues and domestic spaces across the US.

March 21, 2022

Playing the Holy Fool

(12+)

with Mäki Ashe Van Steenwyk

Within Christianity there is a strange subset of the prophet called the “Holy Fool.” Holy Fools defy social convention in both word and action–sometimes in bizarre ways–out of their religious devotion. In this workshop, we will engage this “archetype” of the Holy Fool. We learn about specific historical examples, spend time in spiritual practice, and explore ways of allowing the Holy Fool to shape our praxis in the world.

about the facilitator

Mäki Ashe Van Steenwyk (they/them) is a writer, teacher, organizer, and spiritual director. For nearly 15 years, they have sown seeds of subversive spirituality throughout North America. Ashe is is the Executive Director of the Center for Prophetic Imagination in Minneapolis. They co-founded the Mennonite Worker in Minneapolis in 2004 with their spouse Amy. Ashe is the author of That Holy Anarchist, unKingdom, and A Wolf at the Gate.

March 20, 2022March 21, 2022

Wet’suwet’en: An Indigenous Community’s Struggle For Justice

with Esther Kern

We begin with stories from Wet’suwet’en, a community taking action in opposition to Coastal Gas Link constructing a pipeline through their unceded territory, without consultation or prior consent. As a settler seeking to be in solidarity, Esther will share her experiences as part of a team offering on-the-ground support, and we will explore what solidarity can mean in each of our contexts.

about the facilitator

After a 34-year career as a Registered Nurse, Esther took early retirement and joined Christian Peacemaker Teams in 2004 as a “second career”. This commitment has taken her to Iraqi Kurdistan, Palestine, Colombia, the USA/Mexico Borderlands, and to many Indigenous communities on Turtle Island, to stand in solidarity with their struggle for justice. Social justice and activism have been an integral part of her life beginning in 1969, when she came to Canada with her War Resister fiance to seek asylum and to be able to live in freedom with one’s conscience. In addition, Esther has participated in humanitarian aid missions to Russia, Cuba, and has joined a Medical Team to Honduras on sixteen occasions.