Ax’nakwala
Origin Stories / Dance of the Seagull
July 24, 2025
Traditional village site of the Ma’amtagila First Nation, Hiladi, Vancouver Island, Canada
Hase’ presents Ax’nakwala (Part 1), a day of art on the land sharing major works by artists Makwala-Rande Cook, Kelly Richardson, and Paul Walde at the traditional Ma’amtagila village site Hiladi on Vancouver Island, BC. Created in partnership with the Awi’nakola Foundation, Ax’nakwala supports Ma’amtagila efforts to regain sovereignty of their territories under Crown law, stop ecologically harmful practices on their lands, and enact a conservation vision to care for both land and people.
Hase’ presents Ax’nakwala (Part 1), a day of art on the land sharing major works by artists Makwala-Rande Cook, Kelly Richardson, and Paul Walde at the traditional Ma’amtagila village site Hiladi on Vancouver Island, BC.
Created in partnership with the Awi’nakola Foundation, Ax’nakwala supports Ma’amtagila efforts to regain sovereignty of their territories under Crown law, stop ecologically harmful practices on their lands, and enact a conservation vision to care for both land and people. At the invitation of Ma’amtagila leaders, Hase’ stages Ax’nakwala to help draw attention to these important initiatives.
The day begins with Paul Walde’s Forestorium (2025), a full-length site specific operatic performance about the primary forests of Vancouver Island and the challenges they face. The performance will be staged and filmed in and around a strand of old-growth forest near Hiladi.
During the evening, artist and hereditary chief Makwala-Rande Cook will premiere Dance of the Fungi Kingdom: A Mycelial Odyssey in Ma’amtagila Territory (2025). Cook will introduce the first-ever Kwakwaka’wakw dance for these crucial beings with a new song accompanied by dancers in newly designed masks and regalia.
After sunset, Kelly Richardson will screen Origin Stories (2023), a video installation in which she uses a cosmic field of shimmering crystalline forms to visualize the 6th mass extinction crisis—fueled by ongoing resource extraction in Ma’amtagila territory. Richardson intentionally links myriad species, their origin stories, and their erasure with the attempted erasure of the Ma’amtagila.