Miywasin Moment: Hot culture summer

By JoLynn Parenteau on September 7, 2022.

Miywasin Friendship Centre staff have spent their summer learning, sharing, and celebrating Indigenous culture. L-R: Davie James, JoLynn Parenteau, Ken Turner, Rae-Ann Godfrey, Carol Syrette. - PHOTO BY MARVIN DERRICK

A hot August wind blows through Saamis Tepee, over the edge of the coulee and down into the valley below, sweeping across the Saamis Archaeological Site.

Watchers on the hill shield their eyes from the scorching sun and cast their gazes over Seven Persons Creek, picturing the campsites below of those who visited here long before. For thousands of years, the first caretakers of this land took shelter in the coulee through winter and spring, harvesting bison in an area rich in natural resources. Everyday artifacts left behind tell their stories of survival, many now preserved at the Esplanade Museum and Archives.

On Aug. 20, Medicine Hat Tourism and Miywasin Friendship Centre staff led an interpretive tour of the Tepee Storyboards and the history of the surrounding area. Those gathered heard the Legend of Eagle Birth and how Medicine Hat got its name, participated in a cleansing smudge ritual, listened to a traditional Anishinaabe drum song, and witnessed the Miywasin Métis Sash bestowed upon special guests in attendance.

Enduring the midday heat and leaping grasshoppers, tour participants next walked Saratoga Park Trail, a path put in by the City of Medicine Hat as a tribute to the site of the Métis community that once homesteaded there. Métis Elder Pat Aaker led the tour with stories of everyday life, recalling kitchen parties with neighbours and pointing out where cabins and pony pens once stood and vegetable gardens grew.

Passed down from Aaker and Miywasin Executive Director Jeannette Hansen, who ran the Tepee Interpretive Tour in the 1990s as the Saamis Tepee Association’s program coordinator, this new generation of Miywasin staff will preserve the oral tradition of storytelling of Medicine Hat’s shared history.

Tour guests wrapped the day at Miywasin Friendship Centre where they hand-made traditional medicine pouches from natural materials. Two days prior, Miywasin’s Ken Turner hosted a drum making workshop using elk skins, sourced from an Indigenous supplier and more durable than horse hides Turner has used in past. Twice in August, Miywasin’s Carol Syrette and Kim Desjarlais hosted sewing workshops where three generations of students made cloth medicine bags and ribbon skirts, a traditional garment worn long to identify the wearer to Mother Earth as the hem brushes the ground.

Syrette says having a skirt of one’s own “is important to be proud of who we are, to not be ashamed to be Indigenous. Through these classes we’re hoping to increase visibility, awareness and knowledge about ribbon skirts. We’re bringing back our culture and reclaiming our identity.”

Our sweltering summer has offered a boon of cultural experiences. The first weekend in August, Miywasin board member Cathy Schnell of Dunmore Equestrian Centre hosted the Heritage Gather, a demonstration rodeo, powwow, bison ride and most exciting for this writer, an Indian relay race which saw riders swap horses at top speed. On the last day of August, in the shade of Medicine Hat Public Library’s towering chess piece, the Miywasin Singers drummed and shared the Anishinaabe Strong Woman Song to lend comfort to a gathering observing International Overdose Awareness Day. Though the Ojibwe words may not have been understood, the feelings of courage and resilience conveyed touched many.

As Hatters look ahead to cooler days and the coming of fall with the autumnal equinox, a bounty of Indigenous events will arrive with the harvest.

This past Saturday the historic Monarch Theatre reopened to host two film screenings: “The Grizzlies”, based on the true story of an Inuit youth lacrosse team, and “Land”, Robin Wright’s directorial debut filmed in Alberta’s wilderness.

Later in September, Medicine Hat College and Medicine Hat Police Service will each host sacred Blackfoot naming ceremonies for honoured staff and spaces; the Police Service will unveil a mural by a local Métis artist; Miywasin will facilitate the repatriation of a sacred headdress; a Métis kitchen party will be held at Police Point Park.

We can celebrate, respect and honour Indigenous culture and history through every season. Watch for local event announcements including a reconciliation walk and demonstration powwow for September 30’s National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.

May all our days be warmed by friendship.

JoLynn Parenteau is a Métis writer out of Miywasin Friendship Centre. Column feedback can be sent to jolynn.parenteau@gmail.com