Fort William Historical Park’s Anishinaabe Keeshigun hosts pow wow
By Rick Garrick
THUNDER BAY — Fort William Historical Park’s Anishinaabe Keeshigun featured a pow wow and a variety of activities, entertainment, contests, and craft vendors on Aug. 17-18 in Thunder Bay.
“It’s nice to see a whole lot of new people here, it’s nice to see the young people especially,” says Rheal Twance, emcee at the Anishinaabe Keeshigun pow wow and Biigtigong Nishnaabeg citizen, noting that the pow wow was more of a demonstration for visitors to Fort William Historical Park. “It gives us more time to talk about different dance styles, the drums, the songs — it’s more open for anyone to ask questions.”
Twance, who first began travelling on the pow wow trail when he was about nine or 10-years-old, says he likes seeing the young people getting involved with the pow wow trail.
“One of my nephews, I’ve watched him grow up and now he’s singing with different drums, he’s making songs,” Twance says. “I’m just glad to be a part of all these young guys on their journey.”
Orville Councillor, arena director at the Anishinaabe Keeshigun pow wow and Naicatchewenin citizen, says they had a good opening for the pow wow.
“We were able to elaborate on some of the things that we do to share our culture,” Councillor says. “I’m glad that the fort planned all the events they have for the next two days. They have different stations everywhere that’s featuring some lacrosse, some tea rendering, just all the stuff. So, I’m really glad to be a part of this.”
Nathaniel Moses, a Biigtigong Nishnaabeg citizen who has about 50 years of experience on the pow wow trail, was asked to speak about the pow wow trail during the Anishinaabe Keeshigun pow wow.
“I emcee the pow wow trail, I have 50-plus years…of experience, and this ground is where we actually started along with the [Anemki Wajiw] pow wow back in the early 1970s,” Moses says. “I’m not old but I’m old enough to say I have a bit of experience. I am an emcee, I’m a dancer, I’m a singer. I try to sing but I’m a better dancer.”
Adam Hubbard, male head dancer at the Anishinaabe Keeshigun pow wow and Whitesand citizen, says his role was to showcase his woodland style and to bring people into the circle, noting that he has been on the pow wow trail since he was three-years-old.
“I started off as a (men’s) Traditional and then I switched to Woodland — I tried Grass and Chicken before,” Hubbard says. “[The Woodland style] is good, you need a lot of stamina for it.”
Tanis Faulconer, female head dancer at the Anishinaabe Keeshigun pow wow and Aroland citizen, says she has also been around the pow wow trail since she was a little girl.
“It’s just something that I love, connecting with friends and family,” Faulconer says. “As a kid, I did Jingle and then I switched to Fancy Shawl, and then I just went right back to Jingle and stuck with it. After I had my son, I just did (women’s) Traditional.”
Carla Ryynanen, public programming assistant at Fort William Historical Park, says she was creating a spring tan traditional strap dress for a toddler during Anishinaabe Keeshigun.
“I’m going to do a lot of quillwork on it,” Ryynanen says. “I’ve got a whole porcupine that was donated by a very nice man. I can never find a porcupine and it’s really important to have this to show people how you start from a raw porcupine to the final product of making quill baskets or quill moccasins so they get the whole process and they understand the depth of knowledge and skill and the time you have to put into this kind of [quillwork].”