First Nations craftspeople gather to showcase skills, share traditional knowledge in Winnipeg
'This was a way of life for my family … and we need to bring it back,' says Cross Lake fisherman, trapper
First Nations craftspeople from across Manitoba and Saskatchewan have gathered to showcase their skills in Winnipeg, at an event both the people learning and those teaching hope can help preserve and revive traditions.
The three-day event, organized by Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak and titled "Revitalizing Our Roots," began on Tuesday at Winnipeg's Assiniboia Downs.
At the first day of the event, Ovide McLeod introduced himself in Swampy Cree as he prepared a delicacy — a bull moose nose — over a crackling fire.
"I'm burning off the hair first," McLeod said, gently rolling it over the grill as the smell of smoke and wood hung in the air.
The Cross Lake fisherman and trapper explained in English how he learned hunting and skinning from his dad and uncles. They brought him "everywhere" during the spring and fall hunts, and taught him how to do it respectfully, he said.
"This was a way of life for my family," McLeod said.
"It's very important, because it's getting kind of lost, and we need to bring it back, because the younger generation today don't really have an idea how it used to be back then."
It's the first time Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak has hosted a gathering of this kind. Grand Chief Garrison Settee says the organization, which represents 26 northern First Nations, hopes to do its part to bring people closer to their culture.
This year's event saw about 600 delegates register, he said.
Agnes Samuel from Lac Brochet, a Dene community of the Northlands Denesuline First Nation, attended the event to hear about different cultural medicines.
Dylan Bignell with Tapwewin Health Inc. of Pimicikamak Cree Nation displayed an array of berries and plants, from fireweed to red clover, in clear jars on a table, teaching Samuel about their medicinal properties.
"This one smells amazing," Bignell said after opening a jar of Labrador leaves. "This is harvested on the Churchill River."
Samuel hopes to share some of what she's learned with her northwestern Manitoba community, which is about 150 kilometres south of the Nunavut border.
"Where I'm from, right now, it's still snow," she said. "There's different parts where the medicine don't reach our area, so I want to learn more about all these different ones."
'Thousands of years of knowledge is here'
At a different station, Stephanie Thorassie, from the Sayisi Dene First Nation community of Tadoule Lake — also in Manitoba's far north — cleaned caribou hide by scraping off muscle and tissue with a tool.
She learned the skill from her parents and grandparents. Now, she's teaching her niece Novalee Alphonso-Larocque, 8, who lives in Winnipeg and has roots in Waywayseecappo First Nation.
"Good job!" Thorassie said, applauding her niece.
After rinsing, drying and scraping the hide, Thorassie planned to make a caribou hair jacket that her baby son can wear during their subarctic winters.
"My grandma recently passed away two months ago, and this is my first hide I'm doing since she's passed, and I feel a little bit of sadness, but I also feel like she's here with us as I'm doing this," Thorassie said.
"Thousands of years of knowledge is here being practised at this event, and it's really beautiful. It's really beautiful medicine to be around this."
She celebrated the event, recalling a favourite gathering she had with Cree and Inuit friends where they prepared hides.
"That was probably my most fun that I've had, because I got to learn from other cultures how they do something, and compare and try different techniques."
Nearby, Marie Danttouze and her husband, Roger, who are from Lac Brochet, said they also hunt caribou for drums and mukluks.
"Everybody has … [different] cultures," said Marie. "It's good to see and witness that."
Meanwhile, McLeod said he hoped to brush up on preparing hides — learning and teaching, so his family's traditions can be savoured, too.
"It's a beautiful day. Everybody's gathering. Everybody's healthy. We're going to have a lot of food."
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