Photo: Michael Oleksyn/Daily Herald The Grand Entry kicked off the day at the Heart of the Youth Community Pow Wow at Kinsmen Park on Friday.
By: Michael Oleksyn
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Prince Albert Daily Herald
The Heart of the Youth Community Pow Wow returned to Kinsmen Park to celebrate culture and inclusion on Friday afternoon.
Organizing committee member Alex Powalinsky said the Heart of the Youth Community Pow Wow is about giving youth different opportunities.
“It allows our dancers and our youth drummers to showcase the work that they’ve been putting in to prepare for powwow season (and) for them to share their gifts with the community,” Powalinsky said. “Then it also provides an opportunity for intercultural sharing and learning as well.
“We have people from all different backgrounds and 4,000 youth typically who come to our powwow. It’s really amazing to watch them learn and share with one another and to celebrate our bright future.”
Students from schools in the Saskatchewan Rivers School Division and Prince Albert Catholic School Division, among others, attended Friday’s event. It also allows people of all cultures to come together.
“We have people from the surrounding First Nations communities, we have Metis people who come, we have newcomers, we have Canadians, we have all sorts of people,” Powalinsky said. “(We have) students from all across the city, the Catholic division, the public division. It’s really an opportunity for us to come together to celebrate together rather than focusing on our differences.”
Powalinsky said the pow wow is a chance for youth to learn about the importance of intercultural sharing and intercultural learning. She said that’s very important for communities like Prince Albert to move Reconciliation forward, and to explore things residents have in common.
She added that it is also about making pow wow accessible to everyone.
“A lot of the dancers who come here, some of them have regalia, some of them don’t. Some of them have regalia that they made in school or that they borrow from their schools.”
She added that it is also a chance for youth drummers to get out and experience drumming outside of a classroom.
The pow wow’s location is also significant.
“One of the things I’m really grateful for is all of the beautiful trees that we have to help give us some shade on this hot day,” Powalinsky said. “The reason we choose Kinsmen Park is because it’s in the heart of our city, right? The heartbeat of our community is our youth.”
She noted that this concept goes back to founding organizers Delphine Melchert, Elder Liz Settee and Nicole Rancourt.
Heart of the Youth has several aims, but one of the biggest is helping First Nations and Metis youth get in touch with their culture.
The day began with a Grand Entry and speeches from Prince Albert Mayor Bill Powlinsky, a drum song and speeches by other dignitaries.
They have now removed gender identifiers from dances, so they were simply shawl, tradition al, Jingle or any other type of dance.
“In 2019, the Powwow Committee unanimously decided to remove the gender binary categories from the dance categories,” Powalinsky said. “We’re not changing anything about our culture or changing anything about the powwow other than opening it up for youth to explore their gifts in a way that’s true to their spirit rather than confined by predetermined categories.”
During the Grand Entry, dancer Max Pahtayken spoke about why they think this is so important.
“We heard Max our two-spirit dancer (and) our youth dancer speak about the importance of that and how, when they were young, they stopped dancing because they didn’t know if there was a place for them. It took them six years to come back to powwow,” Powalinsky said.
She said that culture is important to help youth be grounded and rooted and helps them move forward in a good way.
“I think the more that we can open our circle up to have a place for everybody, the stronger our communities,” Powalinsky said.
Powalinksy said she became emotional during her own speech.
” I’m overwhelmed every year with all of the youth and the smiles on their faces,” she said. “I think my favourite thing is watching the pride that the Indigenous kids have when they’re sharing their culture with their classmates and being able to answer their questions.”
The event always has a great atmosphere, according to Powalinsky.
“We’re very grateful for the teachers. I often think about the teachers and how they must be feeling bringing this many kids together. We’ve been so fortunate that every year we’ve never had any problems. It’s nothing but positive vibes, and the kids look forward to it `every year.”
The weather cooperated with the event but it was still a hot day for the pow wow. Powalinsky said they were worried about the fires, so they put up prayers for the forest and the animals.
“We’re grateful that we have clear skies for the dancers and the drummers,” she said.
Powalinsky added that the event could not happen without community support.
“We don’t have any major sponsors,” she said. “Everyone’s important, but we don’t have huge grants that we get. It’s community funds that make this possible.”