Windsor Symphony, Sultans of String host Indigenous truth-telling ‘Walking Through Fire’

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The Windsor Symphony Orchestra is joining forces this weekend with the Sultans of String and First Nations artists from across Turtle Island for a double performance of the multi-media event Walking Through Fire.

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Headlined by the Sultans of String — a Billboard-charting band and six-time winner at the Canadian Folk Music Awards — the event will feature Métis fiddling, rumba, rock, an East Coast Kitchen party, and drumming of the Pacific Northwest.

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“We know that as a society we can’t move ahead without acknowledging and reflecting on the past,” said Chris McKhool, bandleader of the Toronto-based Sultans of String.

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“Before reconciliation can occur, the full truth of the Indigenous experience in this country needs to be told, so we’ve been calling on Indigenous artists to share with us their stories, their experience, and their lives, so we settler Canadians can continue our learning about the history of genocide, residential schools, and of inter-generational impacts of colonization.”

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Walking Through Fire takes place Saturday and Sunday at Windsor’s Capitol Theatre under the direction of WSO maestro Geoffrey Larson.

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It will include collaborations with Coast Tsm’syen elder and singer-songwriter Shannon Thunderbird, Alyssa Delbaere-Sawchuk of the Métis Fiddler Quartet, and Ojibwe/Finnish singer-songwriter Marc Meriläinen (Nadjiwan).

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Guests including Chippewa/Anishinaabe elder and poet Dr. Duke Redbird, the Northern Cree Pow Wow group, and others who will join virtually on the big screen.

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The Sultans of String created the project in the spirit of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s 94 ‘calls to action’ in its final report that asks for Indigenous and non-Indigenous people to work together on a path forward.

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Organizers said a central theme of Walking Through Fire is “the need for the truth of Indigenous experience to be told before reconciliation can begin in earnest.

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“The place that we have to start is with truth,” said Redbird. “Reconciliation will come sometime way in the future, perhaps, but right now, truth is where we need to begin the journey with each other.

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“As human beings, we have to acquire that truth.”

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The shows run Saturday from 7:30 to 9 p.m. and Sunday from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. For tickets, go to windsorsymphony.com

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