Mi’kmaq show pride at Flat Bay powwow
Being the lead male dancer and dancing for family, community and the people in attendance at the seventh annual Bay St. George Powwow was a great honour for Scott Butt.
The Flat Bay Brook resident, who grew up in St. George’s, was in full regalia at the powwow in Flat Bay Saturday.
He said he was also dancing for his ancestors and that it’s great the Bay St. George area is gaining the knowledge and skills of its Mi’kmaq culture.
“We’ve been building on (culture) and made it grow, and now we can be here as proud Mi’kmaq First Nation people and not have to hide. We can celebrate our culture and be proud of it,” he said.
Bobby White, a resident of Flat Bay, takes great pride in the powwow being held in the community where he lives.
“This brings everyone together and takes away any animosity there may be and brings the Mi’kmaq people together as family,” he said.
White likes the fact that many family members from away come home for the event and that it opens up their culture and brings them closer with The Creator.
He said there were people from across Canada attending the event and some from the United States.
“This is a culture that knows no boundaries,” he said. “It extends so far beyond our little community.”
He said people in Flat Bay have family serving in Afghanistan in the military who wished they could have been at the powwow on the weekend.
He said Flat Bay is a community that hung on to its aboriginal roots, and sometimes it was in secrecy, but since the Federation of Newfoundland Indians has gained popularity, the culture is now more public.
“People are proud to be Mi’kmaq and now are not being discriminated for it,” he said.
Jasen Benwah, chief of the Benoit First Nation on the Port au Port Peninsula, said the powwow weekend was spiritual and uplifting and his band is hoping at some point to host a powwow in Cape St. George.
He said the Benoit First Nation was pitching in and helping out at the Bay St. George Powwow and that it was just great to be there with his family and have another great experience with the Mi’kmaq culture.