Students in Thunder Bay, Ont., share music and movement of powwows with their peers

2 week_ago 8

Thunder Bay·New

As northwestern Ontario’s powwow play kicks off, young dancers and drummers based successful Thunder Bay, Ont., are showcasing their skills to others successful hopes of inspiring the adjacent generation. Here's what immoderate performers shared during a precocious schoolhouse lawsuit connected Thursday focused connected educating the assemblage astir powwow teachings and practices.

'Every determination has a meaning,' says hoop dancer Dean Maud, 15

Sarah Law · CBC News

· Posted: Jun 21, 2025 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 10 minutes ago

A idiosyncratic   is seen dancing with multi-coloured hoops.

Dean Maud, 15, of Skownan First Nation says helium was inspired by his person to commencement hoop dancing 4 years agone and has been mesmerized by it ever since. (Sarah Law/CBC)

Dean Maud says helium doesn't cognize immoderate different hoop dancers successful the Thunder Bay, Ont., area. But the 15-year-old from Skownan First Nation successful Manitoba is hoping to alteration that.

"It's similar a rainbow. Every determination you spot is antithetic but it's besides colourful," said Maud. "Every determination has a meaning."

Maud showcased his skills astatine Westgate Collegiate and Vocational Institute connected Thursday for Lakehead Public Schools' archetypal ever Powwow Kick-Off event.

Arranging the hoops implicit his arms and legs, helium resembled antithetic animals, telling stories of their value to his culture.

Families were invited to the precocious schoolhouse to ticker a scope of young dancers — arsenic good arsenic a younker drum radical — to larn much astir powwow teachings and practices.

"We person a batch of pridefulness wrong our schools and particularly wrong our Indigenous culture, and I person a batch of pridefulness successful the students that I get to locomotion with," said Indigenous wellness co-ordinator Shai Loyie, who has ties to Couchiching First Nation and Manitou Rapids.

"I tin spot and consciousness their pride, and I privation them to amusement disconnected and to beryllium arrogant of themselves and to beryllium beardown relation models." 

Heading into the summertime powwow season, Loyie said it's important to assistance animate the adjacent procreation of dancers and drummers with the assurance to explicit themselves.

"The main extremity of this was to truly promote families to travel retired to larn thing caller and to get to cognize their assemblage younker leaders successful a truly beauteous way," she said.

'Dancing is medicine'

Carson Loyie, Shai Loyie's brother, is simply a writer dancer. The 14-year-old explained the origins of the dance, from erstwhile assemblage members would stomp down connected the powwow lands to flatten the writer "so cipher would trip."

"Grass dancers, they correspond the sweetgrass and the wind," helium said.

A idiosyncratic   is seen dancing successful  accepted   Indigenous regalia successful  a schoolhouse  gymnasium.

Grass dancer Carson Loyie, 14, of Couchiching First Nation says helium felt tense earlier his solo creation astatine Westgate Collegiate and Vocational Institute successful Thunder Bay, Ont., but is blessed astir however it went. (Sarah Law/CBC)

Kiaya Nowegijick, a 16-year-old fancy shawl dancer from Gull Bay First Nation, says her shawl resembles the wings of a butterfly.

"It feels truly bully to creation due to the fact that I consciousness similar erstwhile I was a small girl, determination wasn't overmuch fancy shawl [dancing]. So, sharing your acquisition of creation is besides being a person to those who are younger," Nowegijick said. 

Her friend, Adam Hubbard, dances successful the woodland style. The 16-year-old from Whitesand First Nation explained however his regalia features blueberries, to correspond his grandfather, and an otter fur turban, which tells the communicative of an otter that offered to wrapper himself astir a hunter's caput to conceal him from the light.

A idiosyncratic   is seen wearing accepted   Indigenous regalia successful  a schoolhouse  gymnasium.

Woodland dancer Adam Hubbard, 16, of Whitesand First Nation says woodland is an aged benignant of dance. His regalia features blueberries, which correspond his grandfather, and an otter fur turban. (Sarah Law/CBC)

While performing publically tin beryllium intimidating, the brace said radical should consciousness arrogant to stock their trade with others.

"Humility. I ever deliberation astir that erstwhile radical justice people. I effort surviving my beingness by the 7 gramps teachings," Hubbard said.

"Always creation your style, don't beryllium frightened of who you are due to the fact that you can't alteration who [you] are astatine the extremity of the day," added Nowegijick.

"Dancing is medicine, truthful don't ever beryllium ashamed of your style."

The communicative down Anaang Miikaanhs 

The dancers were supported by the singing and drumming of Anaang Miikaanhs, which means "star path" successful Anishinaabemowin.

The younker drum radical is an off-shoot of the Junior Youth Spiritual Empowerment Program successful Thunder Bay's Northwood-Limbrick neighbourhood, which is unfastened to younker ages 11 and older.

People are seen astir   a ample  drum.

The Anaang Miikaanhs younker drum group, which translates to “star path” successful Anishinaabemowin. The younker built the drum themselves retired of moose hide. (Sarah Law/CBC)

Destiny Linklater, a subordinate of Couchiching First Nation, said the radical started erstwhile her younger brother, Zackarius Linklater Arsenault, wanted to person a harmless abstraction successful the neighbourhood to bent retired with his friends.

"Ever since then, they talked astir wanting a drum for their neighbourhood and wanting to person powwows successful their neighbourhood, neighbourhood drum socials and worldly similar that," Linklater said.

This year, the younker built their archetypal drum from scratch retired of the moose hide, coating 9 pointed stars connected some the wrong and outside, and penning their names and a supplication wrong the drum framework successful Anishinaabemowin. 

LISTEN | Sarah Law: Youth Drum Group

Superior Morning5:53Sarah Law: Youth Drum Group

National Indigenous Peoples Day is time but celebrations successful Thunder Bay person already begun......and members of a section younker drum group are encouraging much radical to articulation them.We’ll perceive the communicative down Anaang Miikaanhs.

"We did it each successful my champion friend's backyard and successful his basement. He's inactive warring moose hairsbreadth successful it," Linklater said with a laugh.

"It was specified a surreal acquisition being capable to agelong the fell and soak it. We stayed up 'til similar 1 a.m., 2 a.m. 1 time, conscionable cutting the hide, making definite it's each acceptable for the drum."

A fig of cognition keepers and assemblage members provided guidance and materials to assistance bring the drum to life, she said.

"We made this drum and I'm precise arrogant of it and I'm grateful that we had the accidental to," said Linklater Arsenault, 13.

"[I am] truly gladsome that I'm capable to sing connected this drum and thatch different radical however our civilization is."

Since the drum has been built, the younker person been holding play drum nights connected Wednesdays for anyone to attend, which Linklater hopes bring more civilization into the neighbourhood.

"While we're doing the drum group, they perceive the drum, they perceive the music, they consciousness that bully energy," Linklater said.

"That's truly what we wanted to bring to Limbrick and what the younker wanted to bring to Limbrick."

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Sarah Law is simply a CBC News newsman based successful Thunder Bay, Ont., and has besides worked for newspapers and online publications elsewhere successful the province. Have a communicative tip? You tin scope her astatine [email protected]

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