First powwow coming to Cambridge
Saturday’s event aims to bring community together in celebration
CAMBRIDGE — Christina Restoule noticed that Aboriginal celebrations seem to be nonexistent in Cambridge.
“Kitchener and Waterloo has been involved in Aboriginal inclusion. Cambridge has been out of the loop,” the Aboriginal activist said.
So she helped plan a powwow in Forbes Park this Saturday with a grassroots community group. It will be Cambridge’s first powwow, and Restoule thinks it’s about time.
The free event will feature traditional drumming, dancing and singing and will be an opportunity for the community to come together.
“It’s really important we encourage cultural pride,” Restoule said.
“Canada 150 has really brought up a lot of mixed feelings. We’re trying to focus on the positive.”
Powwows represent the coming together of community — it’s part ceremony and part celebration, she explained.
“We powwow to honour our traditions.”
The idea came about after the Hespeler Business Improvement Area approached Restoule at a powwow at Conestoga College and asked: Why don’t we have an event like this Cambridge?
She agreed and decided to plan one with the grassroots powwow committee.
“Great things happen when communities come together,” she added.
The grassroots powwow committee came together after a powwow held alongside the multicultural festival in Kitchener lost its funding.
Right now, University of Waterloo hosts an annual powwow and so does Conestoga College in Kitchener, but there weren’t any community powwows, so the group wanted to fill a void.
“It’s literally very grassroots,” Restoule said.
Saturday’s powwow will feature junior dancers as well as head dancers. It’s not a very common practice, but Restoule said the group wants to have a youth focus.
“It’s tough for Aboriginal youth in an urban setting,” she said. “We need to continue to practise our traditions and pass them on to the next generation.”
The powwow received funding through the Cambridge and North Dumfries Community Foundation’s distribution of Canada 150 grants.
The grassroots powwow is on Saturday at Forbes Park, 16 Kribs St. in Cambridge from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Grand opening ceremonies begin at noon.
Admission is free, but the group will accept donations of non-perishable food items.
For more information, visit www.grassrootspowwow.weebly.com.