Filmmaker Trevor Solway's Intertribal Series is a documentary that showcases the talents of a quartet of Indigenous musicians from the Treaty 7 area: Armond Duck Chief, Bebe Buckskin, Darcy Turning Robe, and Olivia Tailfeathers. Solway — whose 2016 comedic short Indian Giver was screened at film festivals in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Arizona, Calgary and Toronto — spoke to The Homestretch on Tuesday, just ahead of attending a screening of his film at the Globe Cinema.

Q: Why is it called The Intertribal Series?

A: We call it Intertribal Series because that spirit of intertribal comes from powwow, where we see different communities come together and dance and socialize.

For the Intertribal Series documentary, we wanted the musicians to interview each other and share ideas, share experiences, and share stories through music.

Armond Duck Chief, who director Trevor Solway describes as a local legend from Siksika, is one four musicians featured in Intertribal Series. (Trevor Solway)

Q: Why musicians from Treaty 7 communities?

A: I grew up in Siksika, an hour east of here and never left it for the first 18 years of my life. I've seen a lot of talented musicians in my lifetime, but I wouldn't see them on TV or on the radio, so it was always a passion of mine to share the stories and also share the talent. And we have an oasis of talent out here.

Q: These are four short music documentaries. Tell us about who you decided to feature.

A: Armond Duck Chief is somewhat of a local legend from Siksika. He's a country singing cowboy. He has this enthusiastic energy he brings to his performances onstage. Even in his documentary, we had a hard time not laughing while we were filming his episodes.

Filmmaker Trevor Solway grew up in a ranching family in Siksika, but opted to study film in the Independent Indigenous Digital Filmmaking program at Capilano College in Vancouver, before returning to Calgary, where he got a journalim degree in 2017. (Tracy Fuller/CBC)

There's Darcy Turning Robe. He's a powwow singer. He's a shy guy, who's very grass roots. He's also passionate about powwow, and he comes from a very storied family that has been doing this for five generations.

Bebe Buckskin is a young ... Metis — I would say a bluesy rock singer — kind of a Janis Joplin type.

Olivia Tailfeathers, she's an elder from the Blood Tribe near Lethbridge. She's interesting, because she combines the Blackfoot language way of singing with church hymns.

Q: What inspired the unique form of the documentary, with the musicians interviewing each other?

A: It kind of worked out. Darcy and Armand interviewed each other in the documentaries — and I hadn't known, but they played hockey together.

They sang powwow together, so their chemistry was just off the charts from the beginning.

And Olivia and Bebe — it's almost like Olivia is from a different generation than Bebe, so what can she learn from her? What can they learn from each other?

Armand is an avid rodeo cowboy. He steer wrestles. So we did his shots in and performances in a barn and corral type setting

For Bebe, when she's not playing at places like the Blues Can ... she busks on the street on Stephen Avenue or outside the Elbow Casino — so we filmed her outside on Stephen Avenue.

When it comes to Olivia, we shot hers at Indian Battle Park in Lethbridge

For Darcy, the Elbow River is his place where he finds sanctuary, so we filmed there.

Olivia Tailfeathers who combines Blackfoot language with church hymns in her singing, is one of four musicians in Intertribal Series. (Trevor Solway)

Q: You come from Treaty 7 ranchers. Was there pressure on you to follow in their footsteps?

A: When I was younger, there was a lot of pressure on me to be a cowboy — but out of all my cousins, I'm probably the worst cowboy.

I found my calling in filmmaking.

I still go back to the ranch and help out, give them a hand — but yeah, it was a tough pill for my grandparents to swallow.

Powwow musician Darcy Turning Robe. (Trevor Solway)

Q: Who do you hope to see at tonight's free 6 p.m. screening, at the Globe Cinema?

A: I make my films for my people but they're also for everybody. Anybody can come and watch these films and see the talent that's out there.

If you haven't been exposed to these musical talents, this the place to come and listen to some country music, some blues music, some powwow, anything you want.

​​With files from The Homestretch