In January 2025, Remai Modern was honoured to host Floyd Favel, one of Canada’s Senior Indigenous artists and a leading figure in Indigenous Theatre and Performance, for a transformative two-day workshop on Plains Indian Sign Language (PISL). As one of only approximately 1,000 fluent speakers of this ancient language, Mr. Favel guided participants through foundational vocabulary and storytelling rooted in Indigenous tradition. Combining Plains Indian Sign Language (PISL) with Cree words and phrases in a shared storytelling exercise, it powerfully demonstrated how Indigenous languages carry and transmit stories, protocols, family histories, and values.
The workshop also embraced accessibility by including the Deaf and Hard of Hearing community, with American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation and support from Saskatchewan Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services. This inclusive approach honoured diverse ways of knowing and highlighted the role of sign languages like PISL and ASL in preserving cultural heritage and connecting marginalized communities. By showcasing the interplay between sign and spoken language, the workshop celebrated inclusive communication and reaffirmed our commitment to accessible, culturally rich learning spaces.
Over two incredible days, we hosted approximately 100 students from several schools and organizations. A special highlight was hosting 10 students from the St. Philip Deaf and Hard of Hearing program, supported by an ASL interpreter. Their teachers shared how meaningful it was to have programming designed with accessibility in mind and how meaningful it was for their students to experience a program outside the classroom that truly supported their needs.
We also welcomed students from both Mount Royal and Bedford Road Collegiate, whose enthusiasm and curiosity added to the experience. Students from St. Mary’s Wellness & Education Centre made meaningful links between ASL signs and Cree words, thanks to their Core Cree language learning.
We were thrilled to present an inclusive and inspiring PISL workshop, that welcomed a diverse group of students and strengthened our ongoing relationship with Saskatchewan Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services.
This workshop was a reminder of the power of art, language, and community to bring people together. We’re so proud to create spaces where every student feels welcome, included, and empowered to learn.
For information on Plains Indian Sign Language:
Plains Indian Sign Language | Canadian Geographic
Plains Sign Language camp a new spin on an old way of communicating on the Prairies – YouTube
Repatriation news:
Artifact staff honoured at Poundmaker Powwow | battlefordsNOW
Dozens of artifacts repatriated after donation to Chief Poundmaker Museum | CBC News
Biography
Floyd Patrick Favel is a Cree theatre theorist, director, essayist, and playwright based in Canada. He studied theatre in such centres as: Native Theatre School in Toronto, Tukak Teatret, school for Inuit and Sami People, in Denmark and the Work Centre of Jerzy Grotowski in Pontedera, Italy. It was Grotowski, one of the most influential theatre figures of 20th century, who encouraged him to pursue his theatre work and find theatre methods grounded in his own culture.
Favel resides on the Poundmaker Indian Reserve in the province of Saskatchewan, where he has been involved in the process of reclaiming and revitalizing his Cree culture and language. He has revived the Plains Indian Sign Language and hosts workshops each summer. He accomplishes his artistic aims via multiple projects and develops his pioneering ideas on Indigenous theatre and performance, which put his work at the forefront of Indigenous theatre theories and practices globally.
As a founder and director of the Poundmaker Indigenous Performance Festival, he advances ideas of Indigenous theatre as an artistic genre that is open to all people and not defined by ‘colonial identities ‘. The first extensive study of Favel’s pioneering Indigenous theatrical methodology, entitled Piszący z Ziemi. Teatr Indygenny Floyda Favela, was published in Poland in 2021. Edited by Aneta Głowacka and Eugenia Sojka, the book contains translations into Polish of his select critical essays on theatre, his journalistic texts on Cree culture, history and storytelling, as well as several critical articles on his work and culture.
Favel is also a producer and script writer of the 2021 documentary ‘Ashes and Embers’ which explores the hidden history of Delmas Indian Residential School; the film was premiered at the Presence Autochtone International Film Festival in Montreal, and it was also screened at the Imaginative Film Festival in Toronto
Mr. Favel was awarded the Saskatchewan Order of Merit in 2024 for his work in community and language revitalization. In 2020 he was awarded the Saskatchewan Multi-cultural leadership Award, and in 2018 the Poundmaker Museum, of which he is the curator was awarded the International Indigenous Tourism Award.
A special thank you to TD Bank Group for generously supporting this program.
