Pays Plat celebrates pow wow
By Rick Garrick
PAYS PLAT — The Pays Plat Pow Wow was blessed with rainfall on parts of both days of the July 26-27 weekend.
“We had a bit of rough weather here for a bit, but all in all, it did pan out,” says Biinjitiwaabik Zaaging Anishinaabek Elder Jim Mishquart. “We like to think of it as a blessing when we do encounter weather like that. And our Elder (Garland Moses) spoke on that — there’s nothing to be afraid about and now look at it. This happened yesterday, too. We had rain and then toward the end of our evening, all of a sudden, it cleared up. And they kept dancing here, that didn’t stop them.”
Elder Mishquart says he began his role as an emcee 45 years ago when an emcee didn’t show up at a pow wow he was attending.
“I was already doing the pow wow, so when the emcee didn’t show up, they said, ‘Jim, you already kind of know the protocols,’” Elder Mishquart recalls. “So I did it, and ever since then, I’ve been announcing.”
Elder Moses, from Biigtigong Nishnaabeg, enjoyed participating in the pow wow.
“The community is really dedicated to what they believe in, even with the rain that is coming around, they just kept going through it and they wanted to finish it,” Elder Moses says. “The pow wow went very well, we had almost a dozen drums and we had quite a bit of dancers considering the size of the community. It was always good like this.”
Elder Moses says he met a family from Australia who attended the pow wow.
“They came to say hi,” he says. “They’re just going by, they wanted to find a pow wow and they picked this one.”
Xavier Thompson, a former Pays Plat chief and councillor, says he enjoyed the pow wow.
“It had a little bumps there but it’s a really feel good nice pow wow,” Thompson says, noting that he took care of the sound at the pow wow. “I’ve been to a lot of pow wows before and this one is comfortable.”
Raymond Goodchild, a former Pays Plat Chief and councillor, says the pow wow was an excellent time for healing.
“People have been finding artifacts in the community last week, arrowheads, spearpoints, and they’ve also been finding pottery [with] designs on the pottery here in Pays Plat,” Goodchild says, noting that the artifacts show that First Nations people have been there for many years. “And when we dance, we dance for the people and for all races. We enjoy the spiritual journey we’re on and healing.”
Sharlene Bourdeau, a Pays Plat citizen and an Elder for the Wildflowers youth drum group, says this was the first time they had been invited to drum at a pow wow.
“We usually just do smaller events, so it was a real honour to be able to get the youth up there and be involved,” Bourdeau says. “It actually went beautiful. We hadn’t planned on doing it, it was kind of a last-minute thing and that’s when it turns out the best when you’re asked at the last moment and you come unprepared, and we realized we were very prepared.”
Orville Councillor, a member of the host drum, Oshki Bimaadiziwin, New Life, says they had a good celebration at the pow wow.
“It’s a beautiful pow wow here at Pays Plat,” Councillor says. “We had some bad weather this morning, but it’s cleared up. The hospitality was just unbelievable, all the smiles from the community, and then the leaders came and welcomed us here.”
Stephanie Moses, a Biigtigong Nishnaabeg citizen, says the pow wow was great.
“I made it into the Grand Entry, which is always nice, then I did the flag song at the end of the day,” Stephanie says, noting that she began dancing in 2019 at the Pays Plat pow wow, four years after her father had passed on. “This is one of my most favourite pow wows to attend.”
Stephanie also appreciates the Seven Grandfather Teachings that are displayed around the pow wow grounds.
“It reminds us of how we should be in life,” Stephanie says. “Follow our Seven Grandfather Teachings and your life is going to be very easy.”