Author Archives: Aanmitaagzi

2026 Winter Workshops

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Aanmitaagzi is back with more community-engaged workshops for the 2026 winter season! The workshops are part of our current project, All My R(el)ations. Through sharing knowledge, remembering together, and celebrating the old ways we build our community through art.

All My R(el)ations is a multi-disciplinary dance project of gathering, reflecting, and dreaming. This multi-year project researches, develops, and creates art in, and around, relationality and resource capacity. How do we relate to ourselves and each other in times of scarcity? What actions have fractured our relationship to ourselves, each other, and the land? What actions give life to healthy thriving communities? All My R(el)ations seeks to re-establish ways in which we work well together.

This series of workshops will run from January 12 – April 30, 2026. They are free to attend and no experience is necessary. All ages are welcome except where noted.

WORKSHOP SCHEDULE

MONDAY
Pow Wow Making & Jam Night with Darren Nakogee
6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Pow wow singing and dancing for all abilities. Sing, dance, or work on your regalia projects. Join Darren Nakogee, Sid Bobb, and other artists as we celebrate together. This workshop is presented in partnership with Nipissing First Nation’s Walking Alongside Services.

Open Making Studio
6:00 – 8:00 pm
Weekly drop-in open studio making sessions. Bring your regalia, beadwork, knitting, painting, or other unfinished projects to work on, or start a new one!

WEDNESDAY
All Ages Multi-Arts with Sherry Guppy
3:30 – 5:30 pm  
A multi-arts drop-in class for artists of all ages. Materials will be provided, and activities will include painting, drawing, sewing, craft, and more!

Movement & Dance with Penny Couchie
6:30 – 8:00 pm
This dance class is aimed at exploring relationship to ourselves, each other, and our community. What are we moved by? How do we celebrate the diversity of our bodies and the multitude of ways we express ourselves?

THURSDAY
Elders’ Storytelling Luncheons
12:00 – 2:30 pm
This storytelling luncheon for elders is an opportunity to eat together and explore the care we had for one another: our families, community, and strangers. It is an opportunity to share stories of who we are in the face of adversity and who we hope to be. It is a call for a return to good relations with all.

If you’d like to find out more, please contact Sid or Penny at (705) 474-2227 or aanmitaagzi@gmail.com.

Winter Solstice Celebration December 18th

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A poster for the Winter Solstice Celebration at Big Medicine Studio on December 18th at 5 pm.

We’re hosting a Winter Solstice Celebration at Big Medicine Studio on December 18th from 5 – 8 pm. Join us for an evening of songs, stories, and celebration as we explore and share our multi-disciplinary arts project All My R(el)ations.

All My R(el)ations is a multi-year, inter-generational community-engaged arts project that explores and investigates historic Anishinaabe stories from this region through various artistic disciplines. Focusing on themes of hunger, feasting, sharing, celebration, culture, healing, and transformation, these stories range from the imagined to the personal, often including the lived experiences of the participants and artists.

Art pieces and stories developed during our fall community-engaged workshop series will be presented and refreshments will be served. Hope to see you there!

For more information, please contact Sid or Penny at (705) 474-2227 or aanmitaagzi@gmail.com. You can also check out our event page on Facebook.

House Concert on November 15th

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We’re hosting another House Concert and Open Mic session on Saturday, November 15th from 1 to 5 pm. We’ll start things off with Migizi Country (Dan Commanda, Dave Miner, and Leland Bell), and then the afternoon will continue with songs, stories, and spoken word performances from invited guests and audience members. Pre-registration is not required, but is appreciated if you plan on taking a turn at the mic. Light refreshments will be served and all are welcome.

For more information, or to sign up for the open mic session, please contact Sid Bobb at (705) 474-2227 or aanmitaagzi@gmail.com.

2025 Fall Workshop Series

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Aanmitaagzi is back with another series of community-engaged workshops for the Fall & Winter seasons! The workshops are part of our current project, All My R(el)ations. Through sharing our knowledge, remembering together, and celebrating the old ways we are building our community through art.

The workshops are free to attend and no experience is necessary. All ages are welcome except where noted.

All My R(el)ations is a multi-disciplinary dance project of gathering, reflecting, and dreaming. This multi-year project researches, develops, and creates art in, and around, relationality and resource capacity. How do we relate to ourselves and each other in times of scarcity? What actions have fractured our relationship to ourselves, each other, and the land? What actions give life to healthy thriving communities? All My R(el)ations seeks to re-establish ways in which we work well together.

WORKSHOP SCHEDULE

MONDAY
Pow Wow Making & Jam Night with Darren Nakogee
6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Pow wow singing and dancing for all abilities. Sing, dance, or work on your regalia projects. Join Darren Nakogee, Sid Bobb, and other artists as we celebrate together. This workshop is presented in partnership with Nipissing First Nation’s Walking Alongside Services.

Open Making Studio
6:00 – 8:00 pm
Weekly drop-in open studio making sessions. Bring your regalia, beadwork, knitting, painting, or other unfinished projects to work on, or start a new one!

WEDNESDAY
All Ages Multi-Arts with Sherry Guppy
3:30 – 5:30 pm  
A multi-arts drop-in class for artists of all ages. Materials will be provided.

Movement & Dance with Penny Couchie
6:30 – 8:00 pm
This dance class is aimed at exploring relationship to ourselves, each other, and our community. What are we moved by? How do we celebrate the diversity of our bodies and the multitude of ways we express ourselves?

THURSDAY
Elders’ Storytelling Luncheons
12:00 – 2:30 pm
This storytelling luncheon for elders is an opportunity to eat together and explore the care we had for one another: our families, community, and strangers. It is an opportunity to share stories of who we are in the face of adversity and who we hope to be. It is a call for a return to good relations with all.

ASAP 2025 presenting Catch and Release on August 21st

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Catch and Release
Culminating performance for the 2025 Aanmitaagzi Summer Arts Program

August 21, 2025 at 7 pm
Big Medicine Studio
161 Couchie Memorial Dr, Nipissing First Nation

Aanmitaagzi and the participants of the 2025 Aanmitaagzi Summer Arts Program are pleased to invite you all to Catch and Release, the culminating performance for this year’s program. The artists and youth participants have been working hard since the beginning of July to develop and prepare for this presentation through singing, dancing, regalia making, storytelling, visual explorations, attending pow wows, and other arts activities. The collaboratively created and performed work is an investigation and expression of indigenous dance and storytelling that has grown out of these activities and what lies in the hearts and minds of everyone involved. The presentation is free to attend and all are welcome.

The Aanmitaagzi Summer Arts Program (ASAP) is an annual 8-week intensive in indigenous performing and visual arts. Now in its eighteenth year, the program is led by award winning and renowned professional indigenous artists and educators. The program gives indigenous youth the opportunity to learn, share, express and create alongside our professional multi-arts team, guest artists, and community-members in a collaborative, inter-generational, and welcoming space.

Catch and Release is co-created and performed by:

Lead Artists – Sid Bobb, Penny Couchie, Katie Couchie, and Darren Nakogee with special guests Doreen Bellaire and Animikiikwe Couchie-Waukey

Program Participants – Albany Benson, Ouske Couchie-Bobb,  Lukas Driedger, Autumn Hookimaw, Mya Katt, Markus Lazary, William McGrath, Tayton  Mianskum, Malia Mathias-Mizzi, Niibin Nakogee, Finn Rice, and Shania Splane

Set by Sherry Guppy with Laura Linklater-Wong and Paige Linklater-Wong

Aanmitaagzi wishes to thank the Government of Canada through the Canada Council for the Arts and the Canada Summer Jobs Program, the Ontario Government through the Ontario Arts Council, Mushkegowuk Employment & Training Services, Moose Cree Training & Employment Unit, and the North Bay Indigenous Friendship Centre’s Apatisiwin Program for generously supporting the 2025 Summer Arts Program.