Waywayseecappo powwow marks signing of Treaty 4

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This article was published 06/08/2024 (418 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

WAYWAYSEECAPPO FIRST NATION — Pride and celebration were on display at Waywayseecappo First Nation’s annual powwow on the weekend, with the event marking the 150th anniversary of the signing of Treaty 4.

“We’re celebrating because we’re still here,” Jessica Jandrew, a member of the powwow committee, told the Sun on Saturday. “For us to still be here, to be united, it’s amazing.”

The committee spent months organizing the three-day event, which was more significant than previous years because it came a century and a half after Treaty 4 was signed in 1874.

The Grand Entry on Saturday afternoon featured speeches by Chief Murray Clearsky and recently re-elected Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs Grand Chief Cathy Merrick.

Merrick told the crowd gathered in the Wawayseecappo Powwow Arbour that she was grateful to be at the ceremony and to celebrate treaty rights and ensure that younger generations understand those rights and carry them into the future.

Clearsky echoed the importance of children to the First Nation in his words at the Grand Entry.

“Children we should never forget — as we always say, they’re our future,” he said.

Many children were dressed in regalia and participated in the ceremony.

Sport, Culture, Heritage and Tourism Minister Glen Simard also participated in the Grand Entry and thanked Clearsky for his advocacy on behalf of the First Nation with the Manitoba government. He also commended the First Nation for the development work in progress north of Brandon at the Waywayseecappo Gas Bar.

The powwow featured dances that honoured various groups in the First Nation, including members of the Waywayseecappo detachment of the Manitoba First Nations Police Service and military members. One of these was veteran Robert Younghorse, who served in Vietnam and was one of only eight men who returned home from his deployment.

“We want to acknowledge what our ancestors negotiated for us,” said Chief Shelley A. Bear of Ochapowace First Nation, which is part of Treaty 4. She added that the day was also about celebrating the survival of Indigenous people after years of colonialism and the measures inflicted upon them, like residential schools.

“We could have been gone,” she said

In addition to the drumming, singing and dancing, many traditional foods and crafts filled booths outside of the arbour. Jandrew said the powwow was expected to host more than 1,000 dancers, with some attending from neighbouring provinces and the United States.

“For us to have this kind of event — all I can say is we all need healing,” Jandrew said, describing how she and her siblings are the first recent generation in her family to not attend residential schools.

“It starts with healing, breaking cycles, loving one another, being with one another, dancing, singing, enjoying the food and crafts.”

Powwow committee member Norbert Tanner told the Sun that the treaty was signed with the promise that the First Nation would be able to hunt, trap, fish and manage their land. The weekend’s powwow is a celebration, he said.

“Today we’re celebrating with this Treaty 4 powwow,” he said. “To remind all of the people to know our rights.”

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