Stanley Park hosts miniature powwow
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 21/08/2020 (2083 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
A celebration of Indigenous music, dance and culture brought people to Stanley Park for a miniature powwow on Thursday.
The event was organized by the Brandon Neighbourhood Renewal Corporation’s Downtown Ambassador program, with help from The Indigenous Peoples’ Centre at Brandon University and other community members.
Community members gathered at a safe distance from one another in Stanley Park to take in performances by Indigenous dancers and the Sweetgrass Ojibwe drumming group.
“A priority this summer was to do more events that were more diverse and that were more representative of the different communities here in Brandon,” said Teague Luhr, community development programmer for the Downtown Ambassador Program.
“Our goal of today was to kind of expose (the) people of Brandon to a different way of being, to diverse cultures, to different practices … and by doing that here today we’re allowing the public to also participate and get an understanding of what it is to be Indigenous and what different Indigenous programming we have available through Brandon.”
Gabrielle Jubinville attended the powwow as both a downtown ambassador and a dancer. For Jubinville, cultural events like the miniature powwow help share the best parts of Indigenous culture, as well as create a sense of unity during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
People need to see … just how beautiful and vibrant and how inclusive we are to everyone coming,” Jubinville said. “It’s not just the dancers dancing, it’s everyone in our community … (we) all should be united, especially during this tough time during COVID.”
Jubinville’s sentiments about powwows and community togetherness are shared by a fellow performer, grass dancer Sam Jackson.
“Watching a powwow and dancing powwow are two different things, but they’re both equally … like they’re both equally exciting (because) for those who don’t get to dance you get to see that dancers that do know how to dance, and that’s why we dance — for those who can’t,” Jackson said.
Although COVID-19 has halted many of the regular summer powwows Jackson would attend, events like yesterday’s miniature powwow continue to provide opportunities for dancing — and for community-building.
“The reason I’m here is … I love to dance. Dancing is a part of who I am. It became a part of me … it’s just always been a part of me,” Jackson said. “There’s always an opportunity … when the time is right, I believe that we’ll be called to dance, and what better way to heal the Earth than through what we do?”
» eklatt@brandonsun.com
» Twitter: @emdashklatt
