On the River is a 60-minute live performance of music and video that tells the story of the Cree, Dene and Métis peoples’ community of Fort McKay, through the lens of the life of former chief, Dorothy McDonald-Hyde.

Songs written and performed by Debbie Houle, Sherryl Sewepagaham and Maria Dunn with video by Don Bouzek of Ground Zero Productions.

Program pdf: On The River - Program 2025

Sample video/song segments below.

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On The River - Background and Show Description:

Fort McKay is located on the Athabasca River, just north of Fort McMurray, in the midst of major oil sands sites. The community has experienced tremendous changes since the 1950s. On The River explores these changes with song and video, telling this story through the lens of the life of former Chief Dorothy McDonald-Hyde.

In 1980, Dorothy McDonald-Hyde became the first elected female Indigenous chief in Alberta. She served several terms, during which she helped Fort McKay develop from a small cluster of houses without basic services into a self-sufficient community with full services. She also fought oil sands companies to protect the health and safety of her people. Later, she worked to set up the Fort McKay Group of Companies, creating employment to help the community benefit from the resource development already taking place.

On The River is a live performance that combines songs written by Asani and Maria Dunn (and performed on stage by Sherryl Sewepagaham, Debbie Houle and Maria Dunn) with video interviews from people who knew Chief Dorothy McDonald-Hyde.

The Performing Artists

Debbie Houle is Cree-Dene from the Elizabeth Métis Settlement, working as an artist and community builder in Edmonton’s Indigenous community for over 30 years. A founding member of now-retired Indigenous women’s trio, Asani (who collaborated in developing On The River), in 2020 Debbie joined Cree women Sherryl Sewepagaham, Donita Large and Cindy Paul, to form Nipisiy. She also performs regularly with AV & The Inner City and recently embarked on her own journey of solo songwriting.

Sherryl Sewepagaham, a dynamic Cree-Dene artist from Little Red River Cree Nation, Northern Alberta, blends her heritage with artistry, composition, and education. She is a PhD scholar at UBC, composer, song keeper, and performance artist. Her compositions enriching Cree narratives are celebrated in national choir commissions and international performances with the acclaimed trio, Asani, including a 2010 Canadian Folk Music Award (CFMA) and 2006 Juno Nomination for their recordings.

Maria Dunn is a Scottish-born immigrant/settler and Amiskwacîwâskahikan/Edmonton-based songwriter who draws deeply on the folk tradition of storytelling through song. Her accolades for her solo work include: 2022 Juno Award (Traditional Roots Album), 2016 Edmonton Music Prize, 2017 & 2002 Juno nominations.

Behind the Scenes

Don Bouzek’s award-winning videography has been broadcast by Access-TV and featured on many websites. Don is Artistic Director of Edmonton-based non-profit theatre company Ground Zero Productions who produces On The River.

Sarah Pocklington, member of Indigenous women’s trio Asani (now retired), collaborated in the songwriting, development and first 10 years of performing On The River.

On The River is produced by Ground Zero Productions, a professional theatre company founded in the early 1980s. Ground Zero has toured Maria Dunn’s other multimedia shows--GWG: Piece by Piece, Troublemakers, Packingtown--throughout Alberta and Canada.

Development of On The River received special funding from the Canada Council for the Arts (Theatre Section - Artists and Community Collaboration).

Ground Zero Productions thanks the Fort McKay First Nation, Canada Council for the Arts, Alberta Foundation for the Arts and Edmonton Arts Council for their support.

Please see Contact Page for booking contact info.

More information: http://gzpedmonton.org/projects/view/on-the-river