In 2019, a group of scholar-artists led by Jill Carter stood with their audience in a liminal space at the 'edge of the woods'-a space between now and then, a space between now and later. Together, they engaged in a survivance intervention: an Indigenous reclamation of territory, using Storyweaving practices rooted in personal connections to the land as a method of restor(y)ing treaty relationships. Retreating to Re-Treat documents both their artistic offering and creation process, offered in the spirit of knowledge-sharing and enriching scholarship around collaborative practices. By revealing their unique and still-developing method for addressing a fraught and tangled (hi)story, the Collective Encounter invites readers to join them as we mediate those sites of profound experiences and renewal-sites in which the project of conciliation might truly begin. In 2019, the Collective Encounter-a group of scholar-artists led by Jill Carter-presented Encounters at the 'Edge of the Woods' as part of Hart House Theatre's 100th anniversary season.The piece acted as survivance intervention: an Indigenous reclamation of territory, using Storyweaving practices rooted in personal connections to the land to restor(y) treaty relationships. Retreating to Re-Treat documents both their collective creation and process, offered in the spirit of creative knowledge-sharing and enriching scholarship around collaborative practices. By revealing their unique and still-developing method for addressing a fraught and tangled (hi)story, the Collective Encounter invites readers to join them as we mediate those sites of profound experiences and renewal-sites in which the project of conciliation might truly begin.
• The show was presented as part of Hart House Theatre's 100th Anniversary season. • The Collective Encounter is comprised of Indigenous and non-Indigenous storytellers, researchers, and designers (self-identified in their bios). • Part script, part documentation of process: restoryation analysis is rare and important. • Lee Maracle's teachings, mentoring, and oratory are crucial foundations upon which Encounters at the "Edge of the Woods" was built. • Lee was a seminal figure in the community and died in 2021. • First produced by Hart House Theatre in 2019.
