Kanesatake comes together at the powwow
Dancers from across Turtle Island were led by the drumming groups and took part in the dancing during the weekend, including the various intertribals. Olivier Cadotte The Eastern Door
This year’s Kanehsatà:ke Traditional Powwow was a time for Kanehsata’kehró:non and non-locals to come to town and spend a positive weekend of dancing, drumming, crafts, and good food - all the good things you’d expect in a powwow.
Shirley Bonspille, one of four members of the organizational committee, said that apart from the stress of putting together a powwow with a small team and a couple small incidents, it was a good time to be at the powwow grounds on August 30-31.
She said the big reason why was all the people who participated: volunteers, dancers, vendors, and the event emcee Lance Delisle, among many others.
Sawatis Miller, a Mi’kmaq living in Tyendinaga, was at the powwow to help educate folks about deer and the meaning of the deer clan. Olivier Cadotte The Eastern Door
“It was just absolutely amazing. Everybody loved it. We had good feedback from the people that were there, as well as all of the vendors saying that they’re going to come back next year. Our drummers are more than happy to come back next year too,” said Bonspille.
“So we’re hoping for a better turnout for next year.”
Bonspille added that the turnout was already pretty good, especially Sunday, when it was warm and sunny. Saturday was a different story, with it being a cold, windy day with partial rain.
The cold weather was not a negative for everyone, though.
Tess Lalonde, one of the powwow vendors local to Kanesatake, said her “Inuit-style” fur mitts were a big hit on Saturday because of the cold weather.
Olivier Cadotte The Eastern Door
“They are real fur, real leather, everything is real,” said Lalonde, pointing to mitts made of wolf, lamb, deer, and rabbit fur.
“My pride and joy is sewing,” she said.
Lalonde has been sewing for many years but always finds ways to innovate her designs, she said.
“My new invention is to have these put in so you can tie them and have them go in your sleeve, so you can just let them go,” she said about small loops attached to the inside of the mitt.
All sorts of crafts were available at the powwow, including beadwork, paintings, ribbon skirts and shirts, as well as stalls selling merchandise like t-shirts and hats.
Olivier Cadotte The Eastern Door
Also available were all the powwow favourites in terms of food: Indian tacos, corn soup, giant lemonades and strawberry drinks, snowcones to beat the heat, and Eric “Dirt” McComber from Kahnawake frying up wild perch and sturgeon, to name but a few.
Of course, dancing and drumming took centre stage for the powwow, with people coming from all over Turtle Island to absorb themselves in the heartbeat of the drumming circles.
That includes the two lead dancers, Valerie Gabriel from Kanesatake and Logan Lewis from Prince Edward Island, as well as others from communities including Kahnawake and Tyendinaga.
Sawatis Miller, a Mi’kmaq living in Tyendinaga, wore his deer regalia and brought his deer staff to dance for the first time in the Kanesatake powwow.
“It’s different. Every powwow is different. Every year, you can go to the same powwow, and every year it’s going to be different. There’s always different energy, different people, different environment, so on and so for,” said Miller.
“But it’s invigorating. I go home and I feel spiritually drained, which is good, because this way I’ve given some of my energy to other people that need it more than I need it.”
When he wasn’t dancing, he was helping to educate people young and old about deer, including by giving away small patches of deer fur and hide.
Powwow visitors had access to all the foodstuff you would be happy to see on a hot summer powwow day, including buffalo burgers, Indian tacos, snow cones, and fried local fish, like perch and sturgeon. Olivier Cadotte The Eastern Door
“It’s very important. Things get lost, our traditions, if we don’t educate,” said Miller.
“By coming out to the powwows and dancing, especially for non-Natives, they get to see the significance of what a powwow really is, the dancing, the drumming, listening to the heartbeat of the drum. That’s the importance for me to be able to come out and be one with my native family.”
Another meaningful event was the spotting of eagles flying overhead, to the cheering of the attendees.
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One dancer, Kaleb Pipukwes, was lucky enough to find a white eagle feather that dropped while the bird soared overhead, something he posted about on his Facebook page.
If you were looking for beadwork crafts, paintings, knitted or stitched crafts, or traditional and less traditional clothing, the vendors at the Kanesatake powwow had it on offer. Olivier Cadotte The Eastern Door
“I look up and see this magnificent, powerful, and truly amazing eagle soaring, and it flew circles over top of me while in the bush, so I saw these massive shadows it cast while it passed the sun,” he wrote.
“I am so honoured to receive this, especially in the way that I did.”
On Sunday, one dance was a blanket dance, where attendees were encouraged to donate cash to the powwow to help it stay running annually. It amassed $1,037.40, which Bonspille said would be used to help pay for things like logistics - fencing, privacy screens, toilets, tent rentals, and so on - as well as honourariums for performers.
