Beautiful weather, just as impressive regalia and thousands of spectators helped make the first-ever Every Child Matters Powwow and Gathering an incredible success this past weekend.
Dozens of dancers and drum groups from all over western Canada took part in the event and were cheered on by large crowds throughout the two-day powwow in Moose Jaw, all with the theme of remembering those lost while moving forward with the efforts toward reconciliation.
The powwow itself took place all day Friday and Saturday at Kiwanis River Park in Wakamow Valley and was supplemented by a host of events throughout the community.
That included a special Truth and Reconciliation conversation on Thursday afternoon, a Moose Jaw Warriors game dedicated to the Every Child Matters cause on National Truth and Reconciliation Day on Friday night and a special presentation by First Nations artist Edward Poitras featuring his incredible artwork at the Moose Jaw Museum and Art Gallery on Saturday afternoon. Things wrapped up Saturday night with a New Horizons Dance Rouge-Gorge performance at the Moose Jaw Cultural Centre.
It was all a wild success for the Wakamow Aboriginal Community Association (WACA), with organizer Lori Deets needing a single word to describe how she felt things turned out.
“Wow,” she said emphatically as First Nations drummers played in the background during Saturday’s festivities. “Planning an event like this is so scary, there are so many pieces and to be here and see all those pieces connect… it’s just this massive thing between the library and art museum and Wakamow Valley, we’ve built such a strong partnership. They’re all people we have a great relationship with, we’re so appreciative and that’s what reconciliation is all about.”
It was no coincidence that the ECM powwow took place this weekend -- Deets and her fellow organizers wanted reconciliation to be part of the whole event and having it take place during a weekend dedicated to that cause made perfect sense.
“We wanted to bring everyone together with that theme and look, everyone is together and that’s what we want,” Deets said, gesturing to the crowd of close to a thousand people around the powwow ring.
Deets made sure to express her appreciation for the support of the community, especially their ongoing work with the Wakamow Valley Authority to help with First Nations and Metis heritage.
“Our relationship with Wakamow Valley Authority is strong, and we have to work on that,” Deets said. “That’s how things have to work out, it’s better when you work with the people who work with you as opposed to working against things, which is how it’s been the last 150 years. So we’re doing something different now, we’re going forward.”
That said, there’s still a long way to go -- the journey has continued ever since the reveal of unmarked graves at various residential schools across Canada, but much still needs to be improved.
“The better has gotten better, and the worst hasn’t,” Deets said. “There’s a lot of work to be done.“
You can find plenty of photos and video from the whole weekend by visiting the Wakamow Aboriginal Community Association Facebook page.
