The gift of Regalia

By Rick Garrick

THUNDER BAY—Biinjitiwaabik Zaaging Anishinaabek’s Gavin Eveleigh was gifted with a set of men’s grassy dancer regalia by three women from Long Lake #58 during the 30th Annual Lakehead University Native Students Association (LUNSA) Pow Wow.

“It feels amazing,” Eveleigh says, after putting on the regalia. “I already want to dance in it, honestly.”

Eveleigh says he feels humbled and grateful to be gifted with the regalia, noting that it is an expensive gift.

“It’s a very beautiful gift,” Eveleigh says. “To be gifted it by some beautiful people—I really show my love to them.”

Eveleigh says he usually wears a ribbon shirt that was put together by his mother while dancing at Pow Wows.

“It’s a beautiful thing to dance,” Eveleigh says. “It’s not only physical, but the vibrations and the movement. It really does bring healing.”

Long Lake #58’s Judy Desmoulin, Roseanne Legarde and Pamela Hardy created and presented the regalia to Eveleigh. Hardy created the designs for the regalia and Legarde put the outfit together.

“We saw him dancing at so many Pow Wows without an outfit,” says Desmoulin, Long Lake #58’s health and social director. “It was so inspiring to see such a young man doing that, and even without an outfit. So it was really good to support our youth in this way, even though he’s not from our community.”

Desmoulin says the women had the regalia ready to present to Eveleigh for about a month before the LUNSA Pow Wow, but were unable to connect with him.

“I couldn’t wait [to see his] reaction,” Desmoulin says. “It was really quite a sight, especially for his mom. As First Nations people, we need to keep supporting our youth and our young people, give them that encouragement, give them that hope and make some of their wishes come true.”

Legarde says it took about three to four days to create the regalia.

“When he dances, he dances from grand entry to closing — the travelling song,” Legarde says. “We took it upon ourselves to support him. We’ve got the skill of sewing, so it wasn’t hard to do in that sense.”

Legarde says it takes a lot of patience and a good mindset to put the regalia together.

“You’ve got to stay positive,” Legarde says. “Every regalia is different. Like I told Gavin when we presented the regalia to him, this is the beginning of his story. Along his travels to different Pow Wows, he will add more to it. Judy gave him the bells, so he will have a story of how he put the bells together. He’ll have a story of how he got a bustle along the way, so that is his story. Hopefully we’ll be around when we see him in full regalia.”

Legarde says it was an emotional experience when she and other two women presented Eveleigh with the regalia.

“He was shaking, I was shaking,” Legarde says. “I felt his happiness.”

Legarde says they asked one of Eveleigh’s relatives for his colours in order to make the regalia.

“So that is why we went with the blues,” Legarde says.

The women also presented Eveleigh with an Eagle Feather and holder.

“The Eagle Feather was given to me almost two years ago now,” Desmoulin says. “It was given to me for the work I do in my community in providing opportunities for our people to heal. So I just wanted to pass that feather to him to continue the healing wherever he goes.”