Congratulations to Pow Wow organizers for bringing great event to Swift Current

Editor:

I just wanted to send a letter of thanks to SIGA, The Living Sky Casino and any other person or organization that had a part in hosting the Pow Wow this past weekend.

Myself, and my family had never been before and we were truly amazed!

We came for the Grand Entrance on Saturday and were blown away by the outfits of the dancers, the colours and intricate beadwork, the head pieces with furs and feathers and entire outfits covered in jingles and ribbons, headbands and hand held pieces, bells and quills and even pieces that some of the men wore that seemed to defy gravity!

When the drumming and singing started and all the dancers entered the floor (there must have been 200 dancers) it was like the place was alive with rhythm and movement and colour it was definitely something I have never experienced before! It continued with the singing competition, and as the groups progressed I was able to understand the differences between the groups and how each group had their own “style” to each piece. The beat is constant and consistent but with each group doing their own interpretation with voice, it was really amazing.

The dancing continued in categories from the Tiny Tots through to Golden Age, with men’s and women’s categories for each age group with 3 or 4 different types of dances in each division. I quickly became a fan of the ladies “fancy shawl” and the men’s “chicken dance”.

The women all had these beautiful outfits with a long fringed shawl that would flow as they spun and kept up the rhythm of whichever singing group was leading that song. And the men doing movements getting low to the ground and doing fast paced footwork was very entertaining.

But more than the showmanship of it all was the curiosity of my three young children and the questions that they had about the dances and the outfits and the movements that inspired questions about Native culture and discussion about heritage and the importance of appreciating and celebrating differences of all people, as it is our differences that make us all extraordinary!

I spoke with our Mayor Denis Perrault as well and he was saying how the hotels were at capacity the restaurants were packed and there was a 25 minute line up at Tim Horton’s! All great things for our city! We enjoyed it so much that we returned the next day to buy some hand beaded earrings and to see some of the groups we weren’t able to see the day before and we will definitely be returning next year. Job well done! Thank you for expanding my family’s horizons and making a memorable weekend for us. We truly live in a wonderful community and are grateful for all of the people who work hard to bring wonderful events and performers to our city!

Shauna Cuthbert - Swift Current