I have just returned from a two-week holiday and while holidays are nice, it’s always nice to return home as well. One of the things I like the most about living in the St. Paul area is the multicultural flavour of the community. It’s something truly unique and special about St. Paul.
On the weekend I had a chance to attend the “All Our Relations” gathering at Blue Quills and spoke with Cam Alexis, Grand Chief of Treaty 6 First Nations, about the importance of being part of the cultural mosaic of Canada. As I listened to the opening ceremony, I reflected upon how fortunate we are in the St. Paul area to be able to listen and learn from the wisdom of these ancient cultures passed down for generations.
Just before going on holidays, I attended St. Paul’s first ever Heritage Festival held at the Centennial Seniors Center on July 28. Everyone who attended seemed to have so much fun sharing parts of their culture. People of all ages were up dancing and enjoying the rhythms of African music. Jules Journault told stories and sang in French and John Gray told stories about his life in England during the war. Young Emily Kotowich and other talented performers danced both Highland and Ukrainian dances.
In the afternoon, the audience was entertained by Kelsey Poitras performing the Métis Red River Jig and later had a chance to dance to her fiddle playing. Then the Wood family from Saddle Lake performed several dances. Visiting Japanese students sang three songs and Ky Babyn finished up the afternoon playing a few folk tunes.
At lunch people could sample delicious Ukrainian, Filipino, and Cree foods.
It was a great celebration of our multicultural community.
In St. Paul, we are also fortunate to have a strong French Canadian culture. Although I cannot speak French, my daughter is in French immersion at Racette School. She is often able to talk in French to people in the community outside of the classroom. The French Canadian Association of St. Paul hosts a number of events each year, such as Cabane a Sucre where we can both learn more about the culture.
I found it interesting when doing a story about the development of an online Cree language database, to find that students from Campus de Saint Jean at the University of Alberta helped out. The staff at Blue Quills explained that the French understand the importance of language and culture. These two very different cultural groups found a common ground to support one another.
There is also a strong Ukrainian flavour to our community with the amazing performances by the Desna Dancers. A friend, born and raised in St. Paul, said he learned to speak both Ukrainian and French before he learned to speak English.
St. Paul has so many strong and interesting cultures and from time to time it results in some minor conflicts but these are easily overcome. Multiculturalism works in the St. Paul community. It is something unique and special and makes this community a wonderful place to live and come home to.
