Brandonites collaborate over teepee building

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This article was published 21/06/2022 (1544 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Less than 24 hours before local National Indigenous Peoples Day festivities were scheduled to begin at the Riverbank Discovery Centre grounds, four community groups set the scene during this year’s Corporate Tipi Challenge.

Throughout late Monday morning and early afternoon, members of Brandon University, the Brandon Police Service, Dakota Ojibway Child and Family Services and the Western Nations gas bar all competed head-to-head to see who could erect the most structurally sound teepee within the fastest time.

After receiving some guidance from instructor Tim Bone, the teams were mostly left to their own devices, using a combination of wooden poles, rope, stakes and canvas to complete their shelters.

Team BU, alongside school president David Docherty, ultimately finished their teepee first, with members of BPS coming up closely behind them.

But to Bone, the competitive element of the event is much less important compared to its educational value, where the local sponsors of National Indigenous Peoples Day get to build relationships while also learning about traditional practices.

“As Indigenous people we just like to share and give and that’s just who we are,” he said. “It’s just in our nature. It’s in our blood.”

Much of the Indigenous-centred education was provided by Brandon Friendship Centre cultural workers like Deborah Tacan, who explained the historical significance of the teepee and why it’s so important to display these kinds of Indigenous symbols in public.

“For many of us who grew up in either residential schools or the ‘60s Scoop, where we were taken from our families, we lost a lot of those traditions,” Tacan said. “Our cycle of life was interrupted as a result of all of that and those are the teachings we’re trying to bring back today.”

Brandon Friendship Centre ‘60s Scoop programming co-ordinator Debbie Huntinghawk said an event like the Corporate Tipi Challenge, which began in 2018, also highlights how much Indigenous Peoples Day has grown in Brandon.

Brandon’s Indigenous Peoples Day ceremonies used to be held at much smaller venues such as Stanley Park and École New Era School, with groups like the Brandon Friendship Centre having to organize everything by themselves.

But by the time Indigenous Peoples Day festivities officially moved to the Riverbank Discovery Centre grounds in 2018, Huntinghawk said a deluge of non-Indigenous groups had come on board to help out in terms of providing food, equipment and finances.

“Before it was just the Friendship Centre’s money,” she said. “So now it’s so nice to have people donate their time, their money, because it takes a lot to put this up.”

This kind of communal support is especially welcome now that Indigenous Peoples Day is making a big return to Brandon today, with the last two years being relegated to a virtual space due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

By contrast, this year’s celebration includes a full slate of in-person attractions at the Riverbank Discovery Centre grounds, from art vendors to traditional dancers to performances from high-profile musicians such as Don Amero.

To Bone, the return of Indigenous Peoples Day and events like the Corporate Tipi Challenge serve as a major boon to the broader truth and reconciliation movement, since it shows that large swathes of the public are still willing to engage with difficult conversations surrounding Indigenous histories and cultures.

“We’re still a long way from truth and reconciliation,” he said. “But we’re making a change and this is part of that, with our community members coming out and supporting us as First Nations people.”

» kdarbyson@brandonsun.com

» Twitter: @KyleDarbyson