First Nations craftspeople gather to showcase skills, share traditional knowledge in Winnipeg

Rosanna Hempel · CBC News

· Posted: May 01, 2025 6:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 9 minutes ago

First Nations craftspeople from crossed Manitoba and Saskatchewan person gathered to showcase their skills successful Winnipeg, astatine an lawsuit both the radical learning and those teaching hope tin assistance sphere and revive traditions.

The three-day event, organized by Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak and titled "Revitalizing Our Roots," began connected Tuesday astatine Winnipeg's Assiniboia Downs.

At the archetypal time of the event, Ovide McLeod introduced himself successful Swampy Cree arsenic helium prepared a delicacy — a bull moose chemoreceptor — implicit a crackling fire.

"I'm burning disconnected the hairsbreadth first," McLeod said, mildly rolling it implicit the grill arsenic the smell of fume and wood hung in the air.

The Cross Lake fisherman and trapper explained successful English however helium learned hunting and skinning from his dada and uncles. They brought him "everywhere" during the outpouring and autumn hunts, and taught him however to bash it respectfully, helium said.

"This was a mode of beingness for my family," McLeod said.

"It's precise important, due to the fact that it's getting benignant of lost, and we request to bring it back, due to the fact that the younger procreation contiguous don't truly person an thought however it utilized to beryllium backmost then."

It's the archetypal clip Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak has hosted a gathering of this kind. Grand Chief Garrison Settee says the organization, which represents 26 bluish First Nations, hopes to bash its portion to bring radical person to their culture.

This year's lawsuit saw astir 600 delegates register, helium said.

Agnes Samuel from Lac Brochet, a Dene assemblage of the Northlands Denesuline First Nation, attended the lawsuit to perceive astir antithetic taste medicines.

Dylan Bignell with Tapwewin Health Inc. of Pimicikamak Cree Nation displayed an array of berries and plants, from fireweed to reddish clover, successful wide jars connected a table, teaching Samuel astir their medicinal properties. 

"This 1 smells amazing," Bignell said aft opening a jar of Labrador leaves. "This is harvested connected the Churchill River."

Samuel hopes to stock immoderate of what she's learned with her northwestern Manitoba community, which is astir 150 kilometres southbound of the Nunavut border.

"Where I'm from, close now, it's inactive snow," she said. "There's antithetic parts wherever the medicine don't scope our area, truthful I privation to larn much astir each these antithetic ones."

'Thousands of years of cognition is here'

At a antithetic station, Stephanie Thorassie, from the Sayisi Dene First Nation assemblage of Tadoule Lake — also successful Manitoba's acold northbound — cleaned caribou fell by scraping disconnected musculus and insubstantial with a tool.

She learned the accomplishment from her parents and grandparents. Now, she's teaching her niece Novalee Alphonso-Larocque, 8, who lives successful Winnipeg and has roots successful Waywayseecappo First Nation.

"Good job!" Thorassie said, applauding her niece.

After rinsing, drying and scraping the hide, Thorassie planned to marque a caribou hairsbreadth overgarment that her babe son can deterioration during their subarctic winters.

"My grandma precocious passed distant 2 months ago, and this is my archetypal fell I'm doing since she's passed, and I consciousness a small spot of sadness, but I besides consciousness similar she's present with america arsenic I'm doing this," Thorassie said.

"Thousands of years of cognition is present being practised astatine this event, and it's truly beautiful. It's truly beauteous medicine to beryllium astir this."

She celebrated the event, recalling a favourite gathering she had with Cree and Inuit friends wherever they prepared hides.

"That was astir apt my astir amusive that I've had, due to the fact that I got to larn from different cultures however they bash something, and comparison and effort antithetic techniques."

Nearby, Marie Danttouze and her husband, Roger, who are from Lac Brochet, said they besides hunt caribou for drums and mukluks.

"Everybody has … [different] cultures," said Marie. "It's bully to spot and witnesser that."

Meanwhile, McLeod said helium hoped to brushwood up connected preparing hides — learning and teaching, truthful his family's traditions tin beryllium savoured, too.

"It's a beauteous day. Everybody's gathering. Everybody's healthy. We're going to person a batch of food."