On Friday, we travelled eight and a half hours from Saskatchewan to the Norway House Cree Nation in Manitoba. This weekend was their annual competition powwow. It was a long drive up (and a small ferry trip), but the views on the trip were beautiful. We didn’t stay for the entire powwow, but here’s the breakdown of how our weekend went.
Food and Vendors
Because this powwow is more remote than most, not many vendors travelled up this way. There were a couple food stands and a couple of arts vendors but not a lot of selection. Most of the vendors were local to the area. It was cool because local artisans were selling some goods–––like beaded earrings and moccasins––that represented their work in this distinct area.
Singing
Although there weren’t a lot of different drum groups, there were many youth sitting and learning around the drums. It is beautiful to witness the youth connecting with culture. For the community, their powwow is the perfect opportunity for kids and young adults to learn from experienced singers and dancers.
Bathrooms
There were no porta-potties located around the powwow. There were a couple of washroom stalls. However, they were located in buildings across the road and a little walk away from the powwow. Next year, it would be better if the committee had a combination of community bathrooms and porta-potties. If we consider elders or small children, the bathrooms were too far of a walk away from the powwow grounds.
Dancing and Schedule
On Friday night, grand entry didn’t start until eight-thirty. This gave visitors enough time to settle in after a long drive up north. Because the grand entry took place quite a bit later and the powwow committee wanted to wrap up the powwow by eleven, everyone (including adults) did one exhibition song.
There weren’t a ton of dancers that made the journey up North. Regardless, Norway House still had really great prize money, senior and junior adult split contest, and specials.
On Saturday, they doubled up contest to make up for the non-contest dancing on Friday night. Unfortunately however, our crew wasn’t able to stay at the powwow for the remainder of the powwow. When one of our dancers walked into grand entry with her baby, she was asked to leave. The arena director wouldn’t let her carry her baby into the circle and said she would not be able to dance. The arena director said that if she danced with her son into the arbour, she would not be welcomed at powwows throughout Treaty 5.
Because of this, our whole team decided to pack up camp and start heading to the next powwow. It was important to us that everyone in our camp felt welcomed. With one of us restricted from dancing, none of us were going to finish dancing through the weekend.
This week we will be heading further north into Manitoba and onto the next powwow.
