KENORA – Fiddlers and dancers and games, oh my!
All that and more will be on tap June 4 as Kenora Chiefs Advisory (Ogimaawabiitong) hosts a day honouring National Indigenous History Month.
The cultural festivities are scheduled to start at 10:30 a.m. The venue is the 327-acre KCA Youth and Family Wellness Camp, 371 Stricker Rd.
Invitations have been sent out to area schools and First Nations, and organizers are expecting big attendance.
KCA has held events for Indigenous History Month in past years but “this one’s going to be the first one hosted at the camp,” Jyles Copenace, the camp’s cultural coordinator, said Thursday.
The event’s theme is “sharing our stories,” and Copenace said that’s important because “there are 28 (First Nation) communities around Kenora and this is the home of Anishinaabeg and the Métis people.”
The event is “a good way for the organizations to come together and to support the youth and to support everybody,” he said.
“It’s not just about celebrating Indigenous Day (which is June 21), it’s celebrating the whole month of activities based around the land, the culture, and friendship and community.”
Daytime programming includes “reconciliation rock painting,” Ojibwe spirit horses, bannock making, fiddlers, the United Thunder dance troupe from Manitoba, a scavenger hunt and medicine teachings. A powwow is slated for 4-7 p.m.
Asked to name a highlight on the agenda, Copenace responded diplomatically.
“All of them are a highlight for me,” he said, “especially the powwow, because it gives a chance for the schools to see firsthand about the culture. They get to meet the dancers, the singers and just be a community.”
More information is available on Kenora Chief Advisory’s Facebook page.
