Indigenous culture lesson
1,000 children attend educational pow wow at Curve Lake
CURVE LAKE
— An educational pow wow in Curve Lake First Nation on Friday gave elementary school students a taste of Indigenous culture.
“I learned some Objiwa and some native dancing,” said Lauren Connolly, a Grade 5 student at St. Anne School in Peterborough.
The 11-year-old was one of about 1,000 pupils to attend The Whetung Ojibwa Centre Educational Pow Wow on National Indigenous Peoples Day.
The various types of Indigenous dancing really seemed to strike a chord with Lauren and her friends.
“I had lots of fun dancing,” said Isabella Murphy, 11.
The girls took some pointers from Clara Williams, an 11-year-old jingle dress dancer.
She’s been dancing for about two years and said she enjoyed showing non-Indigenous kids some moves.
In fact, that was Clara’s favourite part of the pow wow.
“I get to teach them,” she said.
Michelle Whetung, who emceed the event, said they like having students dancing for students because it’s less intimating for youngsters who’d like to join in.
“They see students their own age dancing and they want to come,” Whetung said.
The dancing and regalia were a big part of what the students learned.
They saw the different types of dance traditionally performed in Curve Lake, such as traditional, fancy and women’s jingle dress and men’s grass.
Each dance requires different regalia, which is not a costume, Whetung stressed.
“Costumes hide who you are, regalia shows who you are.”
For many youth, attending the educational pow wow marks the first time they’ve been on a reserve.
So it’s the perfect opportunity to educate youth on First Nation culture and also address misconceptions.
Students often assume you have to be Indigenous to go to a reserve and that Indigenous people live differently than the rest of society, she added.
“We like to show that we’re regular people.” Unfortunately, Whetung said, when students are asked what they know about a reserve, some will say it’s where their granny gets her cheap smokes.
“It’s humiliating to know that that’s all they know of my community.”
The educational pow wow aims to show youth what First Nation communities are truly about.
“They can see that we’re awesome and we’re more than they see on the news.”
About 15 schools – from Warsaw to Bowmanville – travelled to the Curve Lake for the annual free event.
Because pow wows are held on weekends, students can’t attend them on a class trip.
So, having it during the week gives kids an opportunity to experience one with their peers and take home what they’ve learned.
Whetung, who works at Lakefield District Public School, said she usually hears students saying how cool the pow wow was and how they’d like to bring their parents to check one out.
“We’re hopeful that more and more people are comfortable coming to pow wows, talking about native culture and just experiencing it.”