Paul Chiyokten Wagner at Northwest Folklife
Free
Paul Chiyokten Wagner is an award-winning Native American flutist and traditional Coast Salish storyteller who tells of a magical world that his First Peoples reveled in for millennia, from the little people of the forests to the mermaids of his peoples in the Gulf islands and San Juan Islands. Take an interactive, profound, and humorous journey through time into the ancient Coast Salish world with spirited and masterful Native American flute and stories. Chiyokten has shared a stage with some of the greats from Kitaro (Japan's most prolific artist) to the Seattle Symphony Orchestra. He is currently crafting his 5th album, which is centered around his Coast Salish People's intimate and profound healing connections to Sacred Water.
Northwest Folklife’s 2022 cultural focus, Metamorphosis: In with the Old, In with the New, celebrates people’s natural propensity for change. This pandemic has proven to be one of those unique moments in our time; a turning point where we can point our compass true north, see the writing on the wall, and meet the challenges ahead.
This year’s cultural focus looks to our present, the urgency of now, and how that paves paths for our future. How do we translate the legacies and traditions of our fore-bearers and reflect them in our current selves, with our current identities, and our current conditions? How do we prepare and propel our current selves for the future we want to see? How is this unbroken circle reflected in the common good that exists in all cultures?
Join us this year as we host panels, discussions, performances, workshops, and more, that explore these emergent concepts for arts, as well as the roots that feed these developing ideas.
Since 1972, the annual Northwest Folklife Festival has been a community-powered celebration of arts, culture, and heritage that make up the brilliant cultural tapestry of the greater Pacific Northwest! Created for and by 150+ Community Coordinators, the festival hosts over 6,000 artists and culture bearers across 25 stages and 200 food and craft vendors annually. The festival remains one of the largest community-powered festivals in the nation.
The 51st Annual Northwest Folklife Festival takes place on Memorial Day Weekend (May 27-30, 2022) in person at the Seattle Center and online at nwfolklife.org/festival.
About Paul Chiyokten Wagner
Paul "Che oke ten" Wagner is an internationally performing presenter of traditional songs and stories of his Coast Salish tribal ancestors. Che oke ten is a member of the Wsaanich (Saanich) Tribe of southern Vancouver Island, British Columbia. An award-winning Native American flutist, his songs have come to him with visions of healing and prayer for all relations (tree people, animal people, and human people).
https://www.sacredbreath.ca/