Roseau River Anishinaabe First Nation brought the sights and sounds of Indigenous culture to students in Altona this week through a vibrant pow wow demonstration. Led by members of the community’s Sons of the Drum group, the event featured dancers in full regalia and showcased traditional styles of dance and song, offering students a meaningful glimpse into Anishinaabe culture.
First Nation dancers — of all ages — performed to the steady rhythm of the drum group, each step rooted in tradition. It's part of a cultural outreach effort the group has been involved in for several years, sharing their heritage with schools and organizations across the province.
"We have family and friends who dance, so we got together and wanted to showcase the style of dance that varies from place to place, province to province, territory to territory that they've all travelled to. Our vision was just to share what we love doing — singing and dancing — with whoever and anyone," explained Darcy Henry, a member of the drum group.
His brother Jason, who is also part of Sons of the Drum, added that they want to highlight the talent and dedication found in their home community.
"In our community of Roseau River, we have a high class of dancers, and they travel all over the United States, some even travelled overseas, and we want to showcase those guys," said Jason.
He also noted that the group’s efforts took on new significance as more stories about Residential Schools were brought to light.
"I think the schools wanted to see a different side, the good side of our people."
While certain spiritual elements of Indigenous culture remain private, Jason said pow wow dancing and singing are traditions meant to be shared.
"We want to share, and we want to show everybody that we're just the same as everybody else and proud of who we are."
After years of cultural demonstrations, the brothers say the response has been increasingly positive — especially from youth.
"The kids, the young ones who watch and listen, you see them wanting to experience it. You see all the little ones running around here, the gifts that they're giving us. It's really heartfelt. It's why we do it. We want to bring people together. It's what makes us happy, and we also want people to feel the love that we have for the dance, so we share it," said Darcy.
Still, not every experience has started out easily. Jason recalled one situation where they weren’t initially welcomed.
"I don't want to mention the school division, but we had one where the kids didn't want us there," he said. "But we said we'd still do it. By the end, they wanted us back."
Thursday’s pow wow demonstration ended in unity as dozens of students joined the dancers in the circle for one final dance.
Cultural events coming this summer
The Henry brothers are also encouraging the public to take part in upcoming cultural events hosted by Roseau River Anishinaabe First Nation.
In a personal invite, Darcy shared details about the RRAFN Annual Pow Wow happening June 20 to 22.
"Everyone is welcome to attend!" he said.
The event will feature 21 food vendors, numerous dancers and drum groups, and what organizers say will be their biggest fireworks show to date.
"On Saturday evening at 10:30 p.m., we are having the biggest fireworks show that we have provided to date," said Darcy.
In July, the group will also participate in the Manitoba Stampede and Exhibition in Morris.
"We'll be there with the dance troupe, pretty similar to what it was today," Jason explained. "We're going to have some Elders on hand with some culture stuff and they're going to speak about some of the items they use, and some native games that we play — there's a couple that we're going to showcase there."
-With files from Candace Derksen.