The sounds of drumming and chanting could be heard several streets away, as a joyous celebration rang through Cardston Wednesday. Indigenous tribes rallied in the community for the annual Cardston Kainai Pow Wow.
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“It allows everyone to celebrate,” Pow Wow part-organizer Dexter Bruised Head said. “There’s a lot of colours and feathers. It’s just beautiful.”
The event was started nine years ago by the late Oliver Shouting. The Pow Wow is designed as a day to come together and unite the people of the Blood Tribe and Cardston.
“We share the same common interests, ideas and what not,” Blood Tribe Chief and council member Marcel Weasel Head said. “So we just wanted to have a safer and positive community and build on that relationship.”
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With a large crowd in attendance and close to 175 dancers on hand, it appears Shouting’s vision is flourishing.
Chairman of the Pow Wow committee David Innes has witnessed the event’s positive impact first-hand from an attendee who shared her perspective of the event.
“She said, ‘I never really liked Cardston, but I’ve found healing by coming to this Pow Wow and healing by participating,’” Innes said. “And she said, ‘Thank you so much for doing that; this is what it’s really all about.”
The hope is to foster relationships, create new ones and learn more about one another.
“A lot of people don’t know how we celebrate and how we come together in such a peaceful and happy way,” Bruised Head said. “To show what we know traditionally — whether it’s through song and dance or maybe just telling stories. Sitting down with somebody and engaging in a storytelling session. It’s always beautiful to learn about each other.”