As we celebrate National Indigenous Peoples Day it is important to realize that our gathering together as a people is not something new as we have been coming together to celebrate our traditions and culture for centuries. I grew up in Attawapiskat First Nation, a small remote community on the James Bay coast in northern Ontario. As children we were always aware of our cultural and traditional past but it was never celebrated or acknowledged. Our parents and Elders had a strong connection to our traditional past but they were negatively affected by their experiences in the Residential School era and the long march of colonialism that sought to diminish and destroy our cultural identity.
It wasn’t until the 1980s and 90s that many people on the James Bay coast felt strong enough to really start celebrating and promoting our heritage. They started hosting regular Pow Wows or ‘Indian Days’ celebrations as a way to show our youth that we should be happy to say that we are Indigenous people and that we should be proud of that heritage.
Over the past few decades, I’m happy to say that Aboriginal culture and traditions have been returning to my people up the James Bay coast, throughout Ontario and across Canada. These gatherings are a time to gather in the summer, renew friendships, share memories, food and honour our ancestors. These events introduced me to our traditional drumming and singing and the teachings of our elders.
In my home community, as a teenager in the early 90s, I was impacted by my Elders like the late James Carpenter, late John Mattinas and late Fred Wesley. At the time, much of our traditional past was suppressed because most people were attached to worshipping and following western Christian religions. The most devout Christian followers questioned and resisted allowing anyone to acknowledge our traditional past. It took many years and many attempts and now there are many people who are proud of their heritage and even those who have found a compromise between the two belief systems. Over the years and through the efforts of many of our traditional people and teachers, Indigenous culture has returned to a great degree to our First Nations.
In my home community, many of my relatives now follow and openly celebrate their cultural practices such as laying offerings, sweat lodges, drumming and singing. Those teachings had always been there but had been hidden because our Elders were threatened and made to feel ashamed for having this knowledge. As children, we had learned this shame as well. The healing journey is helping us to break from this feeling of shame and negative self worth.
Many people do not have a good understanding of what Indigenous leadership and Elders mean when they talk about traditions and culture. This is a huge topic that covers spirituality, hunting and gathering pursuits, survival instruction, language, crafts, art, music, historical knowledge, teachings and legends. These days much emphasis is placed on gatherings which feature sweat lodges and healing circles that connect back to our ancestral ways to maintain emotional, physical and spiritual balance and health.
Indigenous youth now have the opportunity to learn the cultural ways of their ancestors through our Elders, leaders and traditional people. There are Pow Wows that celebrate our ancestral past all over this country and at all times of the year. Schools in many provinces are providing more education that represents First Nations, more Indigenous people are becoming educators and traditional events are being developed everywhere. A healing journey from centuries of oppression is underway.
It makes my heart feel good to see so many young people figuring out who they are through learning experiences involving traditional and cultural events. I have seen first hand the change in youngsters when they are introduced to singing, drumming, healing circles and teachings. That heavy burden of generational pain and hopelessness that was produced by colonialism, the residential school system, the creation of the reserve system and the controlling government departments has been replaced by a sense of connection and pride.
It is not always Pow Wows or traditional gatherings. Many Indigenous organizations are promoting culture through well organized workshops, conferences and teaching events that bring together youth with trained Indigenous instructors, educators and academics. One such event like this that I’ve had the honour of attending for many years is the Wabun Youth Gathering. It is an annual summer event held in northeastern Ontario by the Wabun Tribal Council for youth from its territory to give them an opportunity to connect with their heritage and be proud of who they are. After watching the event grow for 14 years, it’s been amazing to see Indigenous youth being taught to not be ashamed of who they are and to grow to become more confident individuals with a strong sense of identity.
I want to personally thank those I have met over the years who are spiritual cultural leaders. What I have come to realize over the years is that it takes people, individuals like these who step forward to dedicate their time, energy and passion to help us find our way back home, to ground us and lift us up to deal with our wounds and weaknesses so that we can walk with more strength and balance on a good trail.
For so many of us our days are often still a struggle but we have survived to this point. Over the past couple of decades, life has taken a turn for the better and there are more opportunities for education and employment. Our youth have access to all of those wonderful traditional people that are clearing a path for us and marking it well with beneficial teachings, knowledge and a connection to our ancestors and Mother Earth. There is no turning back and things will keep on improving and I see a healing taking place. I see that healing in the faces of my nephews, nieces and all the young people I meet these days.
We all have to realize that the more we do to provide the opportunities for our young people to learn their ancestral traditions and culture the better we can help them to be grounded. They have to know and understand our history since the coming of the Europeans in order to really figure out why and how we have arrived at this place in time. We have been poor, hopeless, helpless and caught up in chaos and dysfunction for well documented historical reasons. Figuring all that out and returning to our roots won’t make everything perfect but it will make things better. We have a lot to remember and much to celebrate as we honour our ancestors during National Indigenous Peoples Day.
