Powwow
Sun, September 18th
curve lake
The day I attended the powwow was a rainy day, and no cars were allowed in the location of the event so when I along with my sister, family friend, and her son arrived at curve lake we were directed to a parking lot and once we parked walked in the rain close to a church where we waited for a bus shuttle that drove us for around 20-30 min to the entrance of the event where we paid for tickets. After we paid, we got on a golf cart that took us to the grounds of the event, it was a quick ride that took 2-5 minutes. By the time we arrived at the event grounds, the rain had stopped, but I started to feel cold, which did not stop me from enjoying the event. May dances, songs, and performances were demonstrated and the opportunity to join was also given. It was a long event, but I attended it for 2-3 hours. I was still able to learn some valuable lessons. Some lessons were things that will better prepare me for future similar events, not going to the first food place I see as there are a variety of options I can choose from, or that there are many vendors that sell things, and many of these things are going to be expensive so bringing extra money to both support and get a little something from the event could not hurt. Other things I learned apply more to the indigenous community, for instance, I learned that it is particularly important for indigenous people to share what is special to them openly, for this reason they were able to freely invite people to join or take special requests. This course introduces students to Indigenous ways of knowing through engagement with Indigenous philosophies and worldviews and this powwow does a great a job of demonstrating how that looks like.
Distant Voices – Return to Old Crow (1)
Distant Voices – Return to Old Crow
Sun, February 12th
Online Video (YouTube)
Return to Old Crow begins with three teachers and a custodian from School District 23 who in late August 2019 traveled to the remote Vuntut Gwich’in outpost of Old Crow, the northernmost community in the Yukon, 120 kilometers (about 74.56 mi) north of the Arctic Circle. The video begins with the teachers and custodians sharing their excitement about what they will experience, the schools they will encounter, the history they will learn, the wildlife they will see, the land, the culture, and getting to see their families, the elders, and the youths again. They also shared some of the things that make them nervous like some of the differences that they may encounter. This video shows the importance of culture and community, in addition to how everything tells a story, including something as simple as an antler. In this program, we explore how to engage with Indigenous communities through the lenses of their own societies and cultural traditions and how to articulate the connections of Indigenous people to their lands and territories. This video directly demonstrates what that looks like. While observing, I saw different peop