ST. PAUL – Despite the cool weather and occasional light showers, students and staff from St. Paul Education celebrated unity and culture during the division-wide school powwow on May 30 at the powwow arbour in Frog Lake First Nations.
The school division’s FNMI (First Nation, Métis and Inuit) Trustee Melvin Abraham said he was happy to see students from across several schools in the region come out to enjoy the day.
The powwow arbour has a high seating capacity, “And we practically filled it up,” said Abraham.
The powwow is about fostering understanding and respect among students of different backgrounds and cultures, and Thursday’s event provided a learning opportunity about First Nation practices.
Abraham hopes students gained a “clear understanding of First Nations on how they still practice their ceremonies for the benefit of healing one’s journey, and the willingness to share the knowledge from First Nations to non-First Nations.”
While students, and people in general, may have different practices and beliefs, there are underlying similarities uniting people.
“We’re all doing the same thing, [but] just in different ways,” says Abraham. “At the end of the day, we're all one, we're all the same and that's the biggest takeaway – to go forward, to get along and respect one another.”
That begins with understanding, says Abraham. He also thanked all those involved for making the event a success.
In the past, the school division had been hosting a powwow at least every two years – with the last being held in 2017.
Keith Gamblin, associate superintendent of learning, said attempts to host the event in 2018 and 2019 were unsuccessful due to unfavourable weather conditions.
“And then it was scheduled for 2020, but of course, COVID happened,” said Gamblin. “So, we’ve been looking forward to this for six years now... it’s been a long time in the making.”
Over 1,000 students attended the event.
