Keeping the next generation connected to the Circle
By Rick Garrick
THUNDER BAY — Pow wow dance demonstrations by five young dancers were featured at the Mazinaajim Children’s Foundation and Dilico Children’s Mental Health Team’s 6th Annual Dare to Dream Day on May 8 at the CLE Coliseum in Thunder Bay.
“Today, I’ve been asked to showcase my style of dance with our youth and our families and just to say a quick few words and showcase some resilience with our youth,” says Nevaeh Morriseau, a Jingle Dress dancer from Fort William. “It’s my goal to bring our culture back and revive our way of life, and by doing this it can do that. I’ve been dancing for about 13 years and I love it, it keeps me on a straight path. Of course, I’m human and I’ve made mistakes and I’ve gone in and out of the positive red road path and sobriety, but this has kept me in a good place and I intend to stay here.”
Morriseau says it is important to take care of what takes care of you.
“I say that because our medicines, our land takes care of us, our water takes care of us so we have to take care of our lands and waters,” Morriseau says. “We have to take care of each other and that’s what our community does, we have to take care of each other. We all have to come together as a community to help one another, we can’t get better on our own, we can’t get better with one person, it takes a whole community, just like how it takes a community to raise our children, and that’s what we’re doing here today, it takes a community.”
Adam Hubbard, a Woodland dancer from Whitesand who began dancing when he was four-years-old, says he shared his style of dancing so more youth could learn about pow wows.
“It helps me make friends and I just like dancing,” Hubbard says, noting that he enjoys “just learning your stories about the dancing and keeping the traditions alive.”
Hubbard says he also enjoys the food on the pow wow trail.
“The farthest I went was to Winnipeg,” Hubbard says. “I went to Manito Ahbee, it was fun.”
Fawn Meshake, whose three children shared their styles of dancing at Dare to Dream Day, says they have been dancing since they started walking and have danced on the pow wow trail across Canada and the United States.
“It was important for our family to keep our children connected to the Circle,” Meshake says. “Our children have been involved in the circle since they were born, my sons would sit at drums with their uncles when they go to pow wows, my daughter would stand with me and sing with me. It’s important as a family when we are living this cultural lifestyle that we live together and we build our families with other families that are involved in this beautiful lifestyle.”
Sapaawe’kwe Meshake, Fawn’s daughter, says she enjoys doing Woodland dancing.
“Today was really fun,” Sapaawe’kwe says. “[It was important] to show people how beautiful dancing is and showing other people if they want to dance, too.”
Anika Guthrie, vice president of the board of directors at the Mazinaajim Children’s Foundation, says she has been involved with the Dare to Dream Day initiative since it started and used to bring her own children when they were younger.
“I love the message that’s created by Dare to Dream, the fact that everyone is welcome and we’re continuing to celebrate children, let them know they’re special, they’re important,” Guthrie says, noting that they have seen some “awesome” bursary applications at the Mazinaajim Children’s Foundation. “We’ve seen a lot of students getting things they need for school, for learning, for academics, we’ve seen lots of extra-curricular activities going through, lots of cultural programming, students getting and making regalia for the first time, all the way to kids getting bikes so they could get outside and get active with their families. So we see a wide range of applications and just try to find different ways to make the children’s dreams come true.”
Mazinaajim Children’s Foundation grants bursaries on the basis of financial need in four categories: Education with the Rising Eagle Fund; Recreation with the Dream Catcher Fund; Leadership with the Four Directions Fund; and Community with the A Community Spirit Fund.
Information about the Mazinaajim Children’s Foundation is posted on mazinaajim.com/.