Additional Information
The 2025 Présences autochtones festival will mark the 35th edition of this annual gathering, which began in 1990, just after, as you may recall, the Oka Crisis in Quebec. A difficult context to establish a brand new festival centered on Indigenous people! And yet, André Dudemaine, the tireless spokesperson for the cause and artistic director of the festival, has never ceased to be convinced of its relevance. He was right, of course. Today, the festival is more relevant, and especially popular, than ever. He introduces us to artists from Indigenous cultures around the world, many of whom are from right here, in music, film, and visual arts. This edition of the festival, he himself announces without hesitation, is set against the backdrop of the rise of a “neo-fascist movement” in North America, primarily driven by Donald Trump’s MAGA (Make America Great Again) vehicle in the United States. In this regard, Mr. Dudemaine recalls Montreal’s roots in resisting this kind of thinking. From the Great Peace of 1701, the first “international” treaty of this scale signed on Turtle Island (North America) between 39 Indigenous Nations and the first settlers, to the ovations given to Sitting Bull, a Lakota chief despised by Americans, and Jackie Robinson, a black baseball player adored in Montreal but mistreated in the South, Montreal seems to have a propensity for gathering and benevolent coexistence in its very DNA. This leads André Dudemaine to say without hesitation: Montreal is the most anti-MAGA city in America. I talked about all sorts of things like that, and of course about the musical programming for Présences autochtones 2025, with André Dudemaine.
The interview (in French) is divided into four parts, with the full version at the end.
Part 1: The Programming
Part 2: Montreal – Anti-MAGA City
Part 3: Tribute to Innu Song and Florent Vollant
Part 4: The Festival’s Beginnings 30 Years Ago, During the Oka Crisis
Full Version
