The 2 Rivers Remix (2RMX) Contemporary Indigenous Music Feast will celebrate its fifth year with a free, three-day event at the Cache Creek Park from July 8–10.
The event is usually held in Lytton, but artistic director Meeka Morgan calls this year’s festival a “movable feast” that started in Lytton on June 30, the one-year anniversary of the fire that destroyed 90 per cent of the town. It was the first of several “mini festivals” that will culminate with the main event in Cache Creek, and Morgan says that they wanted to support Lytton, as well as provide shows in small rural communities like Lillooet, which supported a lot of the Lytton evacuees: “That’s part of our remit.”
The theme of this year’s 2RMX is “We Are Still Here”, and the Cache Creek weekend will feature a line-up of more than 40 Indigenous artists from Canada and around the world, including nearly a dozen Juno Award winners and nominees. There will be drummers, dancers, and Native American music, including a celebration of trailblazing Indigenous musicians from the 1960s to 1980s.
“We’re honouring them by inviting them to come with some of their family,” says Morgan. A special gathering will recognize the artists, some of whom contributed to the Grammy Award-nominated Native North America historical compilation album.
“We have a stacked line-up this year,” says Morgan. “It’s probably the biggest event we’ve ever done, and we’re still getting confirmations. There will be a huge representation of women, youth, and LGBTQ2S performers. It will be an incredible spectacle to witness.”
The event started in 2018, and there were two years of live performances before 2RMX went virtual in 2020 and 2021. Morgan says that in addition to the performers, there will be workshops happening throughout the weekend, where participants can do everything from movement to art-making.
“Mexican Indigenous artists will be doing a woodprinting workshop, so you can make art while you’re listening to music. We’re trying to create an environment where people can witness, experience, and take things in, and where Indigenous people can feel especially Indigenous.
“Everyone will feel a sense of value, acceptance, love, and respect. They’re values we hold very strongly in all our nations, and we’re trying to create an environment where people can witness this huge spectrum of experience. It’s part of our collective history in the place we now call Canada.”
Morgan says that this year’s first show, in Lytton, was a way to support the community at the one-year mark after a period of intense grief.
“People are still dispossessed from their land, and every little bit of hope helps. We’re here to support their healing.”
All the music at the festival free, and Morgan is very thankful for their team of grant writers and all the organizations that support 2RMX.
“It’s about reconcili-action. It’s about the action. If you come out to hear one of the performers, that’s an action. When people reach out and figure out how to support, it means a lot to us.
“Our communities have incredible value. The people and land here are beautiful, and people deserve to see that about it. The people have been here a long, long time, and while we don’t not allow traditional music, the focus is on contemporary Indigenous music and showing how much we have adapted, and how much we can adapt, because we’ve had to.”
For more information about the upcoming 2 Rivers Remix Contemporary Indigenous Music Feast in Cache Creek, including details of the performances and workshops, go to https://2riversremix.ca/.
editorial@accjournal.ca
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