Newcomers gather for Welcoming Week

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 14/09/2024 (541 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Newcomers to Brandon gathered at Stanley Park on Friday for hotdogs, games and a lesson about powwow dancing.

The event was the final one held as part of Welcoming Week, an international campaign aimed at both helping immigrants settle in their new communities and the residents of those communities learn a little more about their new neighbours.

While Welcoming Week isn’t a new event, it’s the first time it’s been held locally, said Katrina Casulla, the co-ordinator for the Brandon Local Immigration Partnership (BLIP).

Most of the world will celebrate Welcoming Week between Sept. 13 and 22, but Brandon held its events earlier — from Sept. 9 through 13.

Funded by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada and run under the Brandon Neighbourhood Renewal Corporation, BLIP helps co-ordinate services provided to newcomers by various organizations to make it easier for them to settle in Brandon.

The partnership is currently in the fifth year of its five-year funding agreement.

Friday’s barbecue was officially titled “Tawâw,” a Cree word that translates to “you are welcome, there is room for you here.”

Casulla said that when she went back to school at Brandon University, the school’s Indigenous Peoples’ Centre was an important place for her to hang out and make connections.

“For a lot of people, like newcomers, Indigenous culture is very new to them,” Casulla said. “Yes, we are all the same and all of that, but there are also still some differences. It’s all in that understanding of differences that we can really come together.”

Providing the powwow lessons was Sam Jackson, originally from Sioux Valley Dakota Nation.

He came out wearing his regalia and explained to those assembled the importance of some of its features, like eagle feathers.

Eagles, he said, are sacred to his people. As the bird flying highest in the sky, they are thought to be close to the Creator. The feathers are given out as gifts or in recognition of important milestone.

With a wireless speaker providing a musical backdrop, Jackson performed three dances — grass dance, intertribal dance and fancy dance — and explained the significance of each of them.

During the intertribal dance, Jackson invited the crowd to dance along to the beat with him. Many of the newcomers of varying ages took him up on the offer.

“I think that’s the best introduction that you can give to newcomers,” Casulla said after the dancing. “It has the rhythm and every culture has dances. We have proven that through the series of pavilions (at the Westman Multicultural Festival).”

On top of the dancing, some Colombian newcomers brought a few games from their culture to share.

One of them was called “Rana,” the Spanish word for frog.

A multi-tiered wooden stand was set up on the grass. On the top tier, there were nine holes with the three in the middle column covered by small statues of metal frogs.

Each participant was given six little metal disks and tossed them at the holes from a distance, with each target worth a certain number of points. Getting a disk into one of the frogs’ mouths was worth extra points.

“It’s a traditional game,” said Jose Niño, a Colombian immigrant to Canada living in Kitchener, Ont., but in Brandon to visit friends. “It’s really popular, especially for people of middle age.”

Niño said he was enjoying his visit to Brandon. Even though it’s a smaller city, he said he felt that Brandon had a friendly environment.

Other events held during Welcoming Week included a proclamation at Brandon City Hall on Monday, a health and wellness event helping newcomers navigate the Canadian health-care system and a resource fair connecting newcomers with housing as well as family and youth programming.

“It’s a way for us to reaffirm that the City of Brandon is indeed a welcoming community, that we are finding ways to recognize the people that have made an impact in our community,” Casulla said of the proclamation.

An employment networking day scheduled for Wednesday had to be postponed. and the hope is that it will be held sometime next month.

When that event is rescheduled, notice will be posted on BLIP’s social media accounts and its website at bnrc.ca/blip.

In an email, BNRC director Rushana Newman discussed Welcoming Week’s importance.

“As a city, it is important that we not only let our newcomers feel welcome when they arrive, but also feel welcome to stay and make Brandon their home,” she said.

“Newcomers need to feel supported and connected to the community and BLIP is committed to ensuring that the voices of newcomers are heard.”

» cslark@brandonsun.com

» X: @ColinSlark