Paddle Song

Co-Presented By Nozhem: First Peoples’ Performance Space And Public Energy Performing Arts

Cheri Maracle

(Six Nations of the Grand River First Nation)

Playwrights: Dinah Christie & Tom Hill

Music By: Tom Hill

Nozhem: First Peoples’ Performance Space (Room 101, Enwayaang Building, 1 Gzowski Way, Peterborough)

March 24 & 25 @ 7:00 PM

March 25 @ 2:00PM

Run Time: 75 Minutes, Inclusive Of A 15 Minute Intermission

Accessibility: Physically accessible venue and washrooms

Pauline Johnson was a trailblazing heroine, proud Mohawk poet and performer during the late 1800s. The daughter of a respected Six Nations Mohawk Chief, and an English mother, Pauline embraced her heritage and fiercely challenged the stereotypes of women and First Nations Peoples. Her powerful story is brought to life in Paddle Song, a one-woman musical theatre performance by Cheri Maracle, that captures the heart and journey of young Pauline.

Paddle Song is an energetic, humorous, one-woman musical that tells the story of Pauline Johnson, the celebrated late 1800’s trailblazing Mohawk poet who toured North America and Great Britain with her poetry at a time when such a thing was unheard of. Starring Cheri Maracle, and created by Dinah Christie and Tom Hill, Paddle Song was nominated for Best Solo Performance at The High Performance Rodeo, Calgary’s International Festival of the Arts (2016), and has since toured Canada and the world, with stops in New Delhi and Norway.

The daughter of a respected Six Nations Mohawk Chief, and an English mother, Pauline embraced her heritage and fiercely challenged the stereotypes of women, and Native peoples within her work. She fearlessly toured the world with her unique stage show for over 30 years, and was published and hailed by the literati in England at a time when the literary world was ruled by white men.

Her powerful story is brought to life by the veteran Indigenous actor and musician Cheri Maracle. Maracle has performed on stages and screens across Turtle Island and abroad for the last 25 years, including numerous appearances as Pauline Johnson. In Paddle Song she captures the heart and journey of Pauline, first canoeing at home on the Grand River, her promising career just beginning, then earning her place on stages across Canada, the United States and Great Britain. Pauline endlessly fought for equality, acceptance, and respect as an Indigenous woman performer in a man’s literary world. Paddle Song reflects the legacy Pauline carved out; an unparalleled mixed-blood persona that would influence Native Performers, and audiences, for decades to come.

“… filled with beautiful music and movement…the story reveals itself most compellingly through the dramatic performance…” -Marion Devries, Artistic Director, The Blythe Festival

Cheri Maracle is a multi-award nominated Actor/Singer/Songwriter from the Six Nations of the Grand River Territory, Ontario. She has performed on stages across Turtle Island and abroad in the last 25 years. Cheri has numerous stage, film and TV credits to her name. Some of which include: Unsettled (APTN,TVO), The Coroner (CBC), The Parker Andersons (Marble Media), Tribal (APTN), and DeGrassi (Netflix, Epitome). Cheri has appeared in stage productions: The Unnatural and Accidental Women (The National Arts Centre), The Rez Sisters (Belfry Theatre), and The Road to Paradise (Crow’s Theatre), to name a few. Cheri performed the world premiere production of the one-person musical Paddle Song at Calgary’s High Performance Rodeo in 2016, where she was nominated for Best Solo Performance. She performed Paddle Song at the Firehall Theatre in Vancouver in Fall 2022. Cheri’s music can be found on iTunes.