Members of the Gordon Tootoosis Nīkānīwin Theatre made a special appearance at the event. (submitted photo/Britainy Zapshalla of "Brit's Picks")

By Derek Cornet

non-profits

Kikinahk hosts annual year-end appreciation night

Dec 9, 2019 | 5:00 PM

Laughter filled the Kikinahk Friendship Centre last Friday as the organization held its annual year-end appreciation night, which included entertainment.

“We get all the other non-profits we work with together to show some solidarity in that we all work together, and frankly, just to have a good time,” Kikinahk Executive Director Ron Woytowich said.

Up to 130 people attended the event, which began with a supper followed by performances from Gordon Tootoosis Nīkānīwin Theatre, as well as comedians Shawn Cuthand and Zarqa Nawaz. The play was called Luff Actually by Curtis Peepeepuse and it was about three grandmothers who want to host a Christmas party, but don’t want chief and council to come.

The play has already been performed in Ahtahkakoop Cree Nation, Beardy’s and Okemasis’ Cree Nation, along with two showings in Saskatoon. Throughout this week and until Dec. 15, it will be performed at The Broadway Theatre in Saskatoon.

“They end up crashing their party and then as all of this is unfolding, people’s secret feelings for each other start slipping through and it becomes a bit more hysteric,” Stage Manager Aaron Shingoose said. “The best thing about it I feel is it’s made of theatre that isn’t hitting on heavy subject matter. It’s a very lighthearted comedy.”

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Nawaz, the creator of CBC’s Little Mosque on the Prairie, performed a comedy set that featured content more for an adult audience. The resident of Regina performs three to four times per week and she stated La Ronge was one of the few places she could tell certain jokes and talk about certain issues.

Comedian Zarqa Nawaz of Regina performed as part of the entertainment. (Derek Cornet/larongeNOW Staff)

“I think they laughed at the wrong joke,” Nawaz said. “When I said I lost my virginity in La Ronge, what I meant it was actually meaning it was the first time I had met a member of the Indigenous community and how it was an eye-opener for me. I wanted to also talk about how we were both called Indian and how one of us was mislabeled.”

Woytowich mentioned he received positive feedback from many people who attended the event, adding it was the most people who showed up since Kikinahk began hosting it.

“What a lot of people were appreciative is that one of the comedians was a woman,” he said. “The majority of our audience was probably 60 to 70 per cent women. She was someone they could relate to.”

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derek.cornet@jpbg.ca

Twitter: @saskjourno