鈥淗alfers鈥� are one of the fastest growing population groups and their experiences are informing a fresh wave of creativity, says Jeff Chiba Stearns, co-founder of the Hapa-palooza festival.
Now in its seventh year, the annual festival celebrating people of mixed backgrounds will hit 麻豆传媒映画this weekend, providing space for celebration as well as discussion on the nuances of hybrid identity.
鈥淒on't think of us as a special little subset of the Canadian community or demographic, but we're actually growing 鈥� we're one of the fastest growing demographics,鈥� Chiba Stearns says.
The word 鈥渉apa鈥� is a Hawaiian term, used to describe people with a mixed race identity, and people outside of Hawaiian culture have latched onto it, says Chiba Stearns.
鈥淲hen I found out about the word hapa, it just kind of sparked something in me,鈥� he says.
Half Japanese, and part English, Scottish, Russian and German, Chiba Stearns knows first-hand what it鈥檚 like to be mixed race. Hapa-palooza is the kind of festival he wishes he had had as a kid.
This weekend鈥檚 festival features performances by singer-songwriter and self-described 鈥渙utsider artist鈥� 听on Saturday at Granville Island. On Sunday, Hapa-palooza will team up with Word 麻豆传媒映画literary festival to present panels and workshops on mixed-race voices.
Within current racial tensions in both the U.S. and Canada, Chiba Stearns says artists and writers of mixed race can help increase cross-cultural understanding.
鈥淲hen we look at the idea of what multiculturalism has become in Canada, really it kind of comes down to the idea that we are just mixing and blending, and our cultures are starting to kind of blend together,鈥� he says. This is 鈥渃reating a very interesting fabric in creativity, you're finding a lot of artists are weaving this into their work...it's a way to combat the idea of 'what is purity?'鈥�
Carleigh Baker, a M茅tis/Icelandic writer will be presenting on a panel at the Hapa-palooza and 听festival. Her presentation will focus on the responsibility she holds as someone who has come into her Indigenous identity later in life.
As a mixed-blood writer, Baker says she straddles two worlds, and is committed to helping emerging writers of mixed background understand their role, as well as to help non-Indigenous folks understand topics such as cultural appropriation.
鈥淚'm what some people would call white passing...that is something I need to consider when I'm writing. But also it's something I can help educate others on right now. Issues of representation 鈥� that's my job, to help bridge the gap,鈥� she says.
Her journey to discover her roots 鈥� her father is Cree M茅tis and her mother is Icelandic 鈥� has influenced her creative writing. In her new book of short stories, , 鈥淢oosehide,鈥� features two M茅tis characters who go on a canoe trip in the Yukon鈥檚 Peel Watershed to try to connect with their lineage.
鈥淭hey desire this connection to nature, to the land, but鈥s privileged members of society they can sort of parachute in and leave whenever they want,鈥� she says.
Baker doesn鈥檛 consider herself a representative of the M茅tis community, and is committed to only speaking from her own experience. Although 鈥淢oosehide鈥� is fictional, Baker says it鈥檚 informed by her own experiences of reconnecting with her M茅tis roots.
鈥淭hose are the stories that I have to tell, it's not always through direct essay writing, through direct politics, fiction has a great ability to educate through this kind of sideways approach.鈥�
The Hapa-palooza festival takes place on Sept. 22-24, at a variety of locations and various times. , but registration is required for the Sept. 22 .
Carleigh Baker will speak at Word Vancouver鈥檚 听on Sept. 24, at 11:00 a.m., atPerspective Point (Peter Kaye Room), 麻豆传媒映画Public Library, Central Branch (350 W. Georgia St., Vancouver). Free.
