Healing through feasting and dancing at the Minweyaang Round Dance
By Kelly Anne Smith
NIPISSING FIRST NATION— The gymnasium at Nbisiing Secondary School was bustling with some two- hundred people celebrating at the 10th annual Minweyaang Round Dance. Minweyaang means, “gathered to have wellness together.”
Personal water bottles and feast bundles were encouraged at the Pipe and Feast Ceremony carried out by Duane Linklater.
The Minweyaang Round Dance is made possible with a partnership of Nipissing University’s Enji giigdoyang – Office of Indigenous Initiatives, CTS Canadian Career College, Modern College of Hairstyling and Esthetics, North Bay Indigenous Friendship Centre, Nipissing First Nation and the North Bay Regional Health Centre Foundation.
Monica Bretzlass, the manager of the Regional Indigenous Mental Health Service at the North Bay Regional Health Centre, says the Round Dance was created for patients at the hospital to enjoy the tradition.
“We had many partners who wanted to join in and come on board to enhance the Round Dance and it’s been successful ever since. Someone will assist with promotions. Someone will assist with expenses. Everyone contributes what they can. Then it turns into something spectacular for patients and for the community.”
Jennifer Funnel, project lead for the Minweyaang Round Dance, works frontline in the Regional Indigenous Mental Health Service at the North Bay Regional Health Centre, said that round dances typically occur in the winter.
“It’s a time when we all come together. We just had the Feast and the Pipe Ceremony. A big part of that is feasting our ancestors. We miss them and this is a way to acknowledge them and eat with them. The Elder explains it’s a time that we connect to that spiritual realm. As we are eating, he invites them in and we eat with them,” she explains. “In the Round Dance itself, they continue to be with us as we celebrate. Dancing is healing. When we all come together and dance, with non-Indigenous people of many nations, it is a healing time for many people.”
Funnel says Indigenous patients in the hospital have a disconnect from their community.
“Many Indigenous patients are here today. We’ve arranged for supervision for them to attend. It gets them out to the Round Dance and they really look forward to it all week. They enjoy the feast and they dance. They get to feel part of the community. That’s a big goal for our program, organizing this each year.”
The Minweyaang Round Dance Elder Carol Guppy prayed for the strawberries and nourishment from Mother Earth and the water.
“Our water is in crisis. People are being too complacent as to what we are doing to the environment. It’s essential to good living. Everyone has an obligation and responsibility to do their part. We must help nature along instead of constantly going against it.”
At the Round Dance, Nipissing First Nation’s Sherry-Ann Pearson honoured Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG). Pearson painted her face with a red handprint conveying that Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls won’t be silenced. Pearson and others had rallied earlier in the day to bring awareness.
“We went to a presentation at the mall. There were six of us. We painted our faces and wore signs and talked about Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women in Ontario. We talked about the RCMP spending money on raids at Tyendinaga and Wet’suwet’en. They don’t spend any money on MMIWG or searching for them. We had a good response in the mall. We had a lot of people come up and give us hugs and say thank you.”
The Minweyaang Round Dance was directed by MC Kirby Mianskum with Stickman Brennan Govender. Tyler Eagle, Lester Mianskum, Jordan Mowat, Gerry McComb, Dave Hookimaw, and Darren Nakogee were invited singers.
As part of the event, the North Bay Regional Health Centre Foundation engaged sponsors for the ongoing development of the Regional Indigenous Mental Health Cultural Grounds. Financial contributions have been made by Bell Let’s Talk, North Shore Convenience, and Chester’s One Stop Gas Bar.