Manito Ahbee celebrates 20 years of showcasing Indigenous culture at one of North America's biggest powwows

Brittany Hobson · The Canadian Press

· Posted: May 17, 2025 12:01 PM EDT | Last Updated: 9 minutes ago

For galore acquainted with Canada's powwow scene, Maggie White is known arsenic the archetypal woman of the jingle dress.

The precocious Anishinaabe pistillate earned the rubric aft popularizing the jingle formal regalia and creation benignant astatine powwows successful the precocious 1960s to the aboriginal 1980s.

In the years since, the dance, known arsenic a healing dance, has go an authoritative class astatine powwows.

White's household is honouring the matriarch and the jingle formal astatine this year's 20th day of the Manito Ahbee Festival successful Winnipeg, 1 of the largest powwows successful North America.

Jocelyn White says it's hard to enactment into words what it means to wage tribute to the bequest of her grandmother.

"I [am] excited. I [am] happy that we're capable to bash this astatine specified a large venue to honour our kokum," she said from her location connected the Naotkamegwanning First Nation successful northwestern Ontario.

At the powwow festival, the household is acceptable to big a jingle formal peculiar called "Honouring the Shiibaashka'igan," which translates to jingle formal successful Anishinaabemowin. A peculiar is simply a abstracted contention during a powwow usually sponsored by an individual, household subordinate oregon organization.

There are antithetic oral histories of the origins of the jingle formal dating backmost to the aboriginal 20th century.

Maggie White's communicative stems from erstwhile she became sick arsenic a young girl. Her gramps dreamed of a peculiar formal for her adorned with shiny metallic cones. When she wore it and danced, it helped cure her ailments.

Attending Manito Ahbee has been a longtime White household tradition, and Jocelyn White has been going since it started successful downtown Winnipeg.

She has watched her nieces creation and listened arsenic men successful her household performed with the Whitefish Bay Singers, a drum radical founded by her begetter and an uncle.

"I was ever truthful proud.… When you perceive the music, it gives you a bully feeling," she said.

'A truly arrogant moment'

It's this pridefulness of culture, household and traditions that prompted organizers to commencement Manito Ahbee 2 decades ago.

A radical of Indigenous radical successful Winnipeg, including the festival's existent enforcement director, Lisa Meeches, came unneurotic to make the festival aft discussing the request for an lawsuit to showcase First Nations, Métis and Inuit cultures that could besides beryllium an inclusive spot for all.

Derek Hart has been progressive with the three-day festival since time one, arsenic the proprietor of a institution that oversees security. He has besides taken connected roles with the event's acquisition and logistics teams.

"I retrieve that archetypal year. It was a spot of a interest due to the fact that cipher had bought tickets up of time. But erstwhile the festival got going and the powwow ... it was a bully turnout," Hart said.

"It was conscionable a truly arrogant infinitesimal to spot the festival start."

Manito Ahbee has besides evolved. It utilized to enactment up with the Aboriginal People's Choice Music Awards, present known arsenic the Indigenous Music Awards, earlier it moved to the summer. It present takes spot connected the May agelong weekend.

There person besides been antithetic venues and, successful caller years, it has settled astatine Red River Exhibition Park astatine the borderline of the city.

Programming changed arsenic feedback came successful from attendees. This year's lawsuit includes a teepee-raising contest, a manner amusement and speeches from younker leaders. There's besides a marketplace with nutrient and retail vendors.

One of the festival's mainstays has been the crowning of Miss Manito Ahbee.

The rubric was created to honour the representation of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls and is awarded to a miss each year.

Grace Redhead, who has been with the festival for the past 12 years, got her commencement with the Miss Manito Ahbee ambassador program.

"The crowning of Miss Manito Ahbee is truly affectional to see," said Redhead.

Contestants spell done a rigorous adjudication process, demonstrating enactment skills and cognition astir the missing and murdered. Former ambassadors person gone connected to go authors, educators and musicians.

Redhead's existent relation arsenic powwow manager has her organizing the festival's main attraction — the powwow, which draws hundreds of dancers each year.

There's typically "chaos," she said, portion making definite everyone is successful their positions for the kickoff, besides known arsenic the expansive entry.

"It's a truly bully infinitesimal erstwhile everything's going and you spot each the hard enactment travel together," said Redhead.

Running a festival of this size is nary casual feat. It requires the assistance of managers and volunteers, galore of them newcomers looking to larn much astir the First Peoples of this land.

The festival has made it a precedence to enactment with migrant and newcomer organizations. On Sunday, it's holding a citizenship ceremonial for the archetypal time.

"There's truthful galore radical that come, and it's not conscionable Indigenous people. It's radical of antithetic nationalities conscionable coming to participate," said Hart.

As the festival heads into its adjacent 20 years, Hart and Redhead accidental they're astir excited to walk connected the torch to the adjacent procreation of organizers.

"I person nary worries astir the adjacent 20 years," said Redhead.