Members of the Prince Albert Outreach Program have presented their plans for the Heart of the Youth Community Pow Wow to city council members in Prince Albert.
“The Heart of the Youth Pow Wow will be the first of its kind to take place independently. Eight years ago, it used to be the West Flat Pow Wow,” said Liz Settee, a community outreach worker with the Prince Albert Friendship Centre.
“So, all the schools in the West Flat would get together. Three years ago, Sask. River School got rid of their community coordinator, so then it became the Catholic School Pow Wow, and then this June, the community coordinators were nonexistent. So, now it’s a community pow wow, where everybody and anybody can come.”
The focus for this pow wow is on the youth, who Settee says, have no place to showcase their talent once they are finished their pow wow classes in school.
“They (the youth) are our future,” said Settee. “Plus, the pride in their eyes that day, the coming together, the camaraderie — they’re dancing for fun. Everything else has just left, there’s no worries, there’s no cares. And it’s a celebration.”
The grand entry for the ceremony will be at 10 a.m. on May 25, with food provided at no charge. There will be a 500-square-foot tent, just in case it rains and a tent for the elders that will be enclosed.
The closing ceremonies will be at 2 p.m.
(PHOTO: A Prince Albert youth outreach worker thanks city council members for the use of Kinsmen Park. Photo courtesy of Julianna Maggrah.)