A manidoons collective and Native Earth Performing Arts co-production

March - April 2026

Miskozi is searching for something...
There’s something missing. And she’s not sure what it is.

She goes on a search for herself and her culture, accompanied by her inner white girl, Waabishkizi, and guided by Ziibi, a manifestation of an ancestral river, both provoking her to try and find the answers.

She begins the journey back before she was even born, right at the seeds of colonization when her ancestors were forced to hide their culture anywhere they could.

Burying their language. Their teachings. Their bundles. Their moccasins.

White Girls in Moccasins is a hilarious and poignant reclamation story that world-hops between dreams, memories, and a surreal game show. Miskozi recounts her life and is forced to grapple with her own truth, while existing in a society steeped in white supremacy.

A love letter to brown kids born...
in the 80s, surviving in the 90s and all those continuing to deeply reclaim.

Previews: March 22, March 24
Shows: March 25 - April 12
At the Aki Studio 585 Dundas Street East
Purchase tickets at nativeearth.ca

Creative Team

Dylan Tate-Howarth | stage manager
Wei Qing Tan | alternate stage manager

Julia Howman | Native Earth Performing Arts production and facilities manager
Steph Raposo | Technical Director

WORLD PREMIERE 2022

White Girls in Moccasins

A manidoons collective and Buddies in Bad Times Theatre co-presentation

March 9-20, 2022 & Digital Broadcast March 26 – April 8, 2022

Gi-bgizoomgad epiichi biinjii’yii debwewin-nim — you swim in your truth —

Miskozi goes on a search for herself and her culture, accompanied by her inner white girl, Waabishkizi, and guided by Ziibi, a manifestation of an ancestral river.

An irreverent reclamation story, White Girls in Moccasins world-hops between dreams, memories, and a surreal game show as Miskozi grapples with living her own truth in a society steeped in white supremacy.

We invite guests to our show to make donations to Toronto Indigenous Harm Reduction.

Creative Team

Yolanda Bonnell // playwright, choreographer & performer
Cole Alvis + Samantha Brown // co-directors
Elizabeth Staples // performer
Ravyn Wngz // performer
Trevor Schwellnus // set & projection design
Rihkee Strapp // animation & associate video design
Echo Zhou // lighting design
Sruthi Suresan // associate lighting design
Maddie Bautista // composition and sound design
Rachel Forbes // costume & props design
Asli Ozuak // associate costume design & set + props coordinator
Natércia Napoleão // associate producer
Steph Raposo // production manager
Dylan Tate-Howarth // production stage manager
Ada Aguilar //rehearsal stage manager
Sheila Demerah // moccasins
Mary Magiskan // belt
Aqua Nibii Waawaaskone // drum
Nathenia Bonnell // drum painter
Mary Bonnell // gramma’s hands
Pauline Shirt // knowledge keeper
Amy Ireland + Natasha Bacchus // Deaf interpreters
Lena Recollet + Sally Atchitawens-Recollet + Roger Roulette // Anishinaabemowin language keepers

pictured (left to right): Rihkee Strapp, Ada Aguilar, Kay Chan, Ravyn Wngz, Yolanda Bonnell, Elizabeth Staples, Trevour Schwellnus, Samantha Brown, Echo Zhou, Maddie Bautista, Cole Alvis

Digital Broadcast Team

Justin Moy // video recording and editing
Courage Bacchus + Amy Ireland // Deaf interpreters
Carmelle Cachero + Marcia Martins // ASL interpreters
Alexa Hickox // ASL interpretation editing
Theo Belc + Kay Chan + Sally Roberts // captioning support
Rogue Benjamin + Rich Manilla + Aneesa Mustafa // ASL support
Jac Costa + Steph Raposo + Rachel Shaen // rehearsal recording

Press

White Girls in Moccasins is a deep introspective reflection across time about what it means to be an Indigenous woman or women of colour living in a white supremacist society. It’s a representation of stories that could never be told before because it wasn’t for who was the norm or who was the standard. It also reflects the resilience of Indigenous women surviving and the restoration of something inside of us that was never lost because we carry the blood memory of our ancestors before us.

— Erica Commanda (Muskrat Magazine)

Of all the productions I’ve seen in the staggered theatre reopenings during the pandemic, this is the show that has best understood the possibilities and the potential of the art form. This is theatre as ceremony, as ritual. The efficiency and ease with which the creative team fill in Miskozi’s story are impressive, whether it’s presenting the young girl watch her Gramma bake (that white flour becomes very symbolic) or seeing her witness abuse and then enter abusive relationships herself.

— Glenn Sumi (NOW Magazine)

Bonnell’s storytelling feels audacious in the best ways: She shows stories that most First Nation, Métis and Inuit people experience in one way or another but don’t often speak publicly about. It’s an unusual way to see ourselves and be seen. For me, it’s as if I were watching my own story.

— Robin Grant-Moran (Globe and Mail)