By Tyrone Sitting Eagle
On November 22nd, a documentary of the production and dance show New Blood was shown at Strathmore High School, which began in 2014. Since then, it has gotten a lot of exposure because of the advocacy it stands for in Truth and Reconciliation. Recently it had a documentary that featured the production. The documentary was produced by Austin Ladouceur and directed by Adam Solway which premiered on CBC Gem November 22nd, 2024. New Blood is inspired by the true story of the past Chief, Vincent Yellow Old Women, and first started its production in 2014.
In 2014, Deanne Bertsch, a drama teacher at Strathmore High School, and assisted by Eulalia Running Rabbit, the Blackfoot language teacher also at Strathmore High School, put together the production called “New Blood.” The inspirations for the production came when Deanne went to the “Writing On Stone.” She learned about the history of the Blackfoot people and the importance of Blackfoot culture. She also learned how the Blackfoot people were restricted to reservations and were not allowed to leave, preventing them from learning stories, in which some of the stories were lost. Learning this history while going on the tour, Deanne was determined to bring this culture to her students and created a production of the Blackfoot history that they have learned. Both classes of Bertsch and Running Rabbit joined in on the productions and had their first showing with only a few going to see the play. It has come a very long way since its initial inception, with the production having full houses at various venues in Calgary, Alberta, and Canada. They have also had world-renowned composer Peter Gabriel produce the music and donate his time to make the music for the play.
Bertsch also exclaimed her sadness when learning about the tragic history that the Blackfoot people went through.
“I’ve seen all the pictographs, and we had a Blackfoot guide, and she said some of the stories have been lost because when the Blackfoot people were put on reservations, they weren’t allowed to go learn of their stories. This just made me so sad,” said Bertsch in an interview with Siksika Media.
Recently, there has been a documentary made about the production. This was made by both Adam Solway and Austin Ladouceur, and this documentary takes a deep dive on how the show became what it is today. It has interviews with Chief Vincent Yellow Old Woman and Eulalia Running Rabbit telling their stories and how difficult it was to be in residential schools. It also shows the hardships and the importance of the history of the residential school and how the production brought a lot of awareness to communities across Alberta and Canada.
In an interview with Siksika Media, Solway and Ladouceur spoke about how the production for the documentary came about, exclaiming that Ladouceur attended one of the shows and absolutely loved the production, he then approached Bertsch about making some sort of film involving New Blood. Bertsch then had mentioned that she always wanted to make New Blood into a movie. Ladouceur then also mentioned that it would make for a wonderful documentary, as Hayden Yellow Old Women was the first actor to play the main character in the production as his grandfather, Vincent Yellow Old Women, so it would be fitting to show the audience the families, the history of the show, and what the show is about. Later, Ladouceur had contacted Solway to join, and exclaimed how having a community member direct the film would be so fitting.
“The way that New Blood started for me is I saw this exactly two years ago. I sat close to the front, and I started talking with Deanne, and she had mentioned that she wanted to turn this into a film, and so I said that this would actually make a better documentary, because she said something interesting, which was that Hayden was actually the first actor to play his grandfather in the show. This might be a great opportunity to tell an audience about this show, about their family, about the history behind the show,” said Ladouceur.
Adam Solway, who is also a big part of the production, spoke about his involvement as well.
“Austin actually reached out to me about a year ago now. He asked me if I wanted to jump on this project. He said, ‘Hey, you’re from this community; you’re a filmmaker; I think someone from this community should direct it,’ and I said sure,” said Adam Solway in an interview.
In conclusion, New Blood has been in production since 2014, and with the hard work of drama teacher Deanne Bertsch along with language teacher Eulalia Running Rabbit, helped this become a highly successful production. They did not expect this to go on for long, and it is still in production till today. It is as well being featured in a documentary that Adam Solway and Austin Ladouceur directed and produced. This whole production has brought a lot of awareness about residential schools, teaching youth in both Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities, and finally, being a big advocate for Truth and Reconciliation.
