Peace Powwow begins season of celebration
By Ry Clarke - Lethbridge Herald Local Journalism Initiative Reporter on February 28, 2023.
The 2023 International Peace Powwow and Festival took place this past weekend. Indigenous peoples gathered at the Enmax Centre to promote the culture of the Blackfoot people, with colorful regalia, traditional dances, and dynamic drum songs filling the centre all weekend. The 23rd Annual Powwow is the first of the season in southern Alberta, starting off the festivities that will follow in the spring.“The International Peace Powwow is the start of the powwow trail, this is the start of the trail for the new year,” said Fee Marule-Mclean, production coordinator for the powwow. “With the Grand Entry, and how many dancers were in it, the drummers and the participants, they all love this powwow. Especially when that Grand Entry comes in, you watch all the dancers from every category, and their children learning to dance, its beautiful to see them throughout the years.”
This is the second year the powwow has operated since the COVID-19 pandemic, seeing more attendants as restrictions ease.
“Last year we did run it, but it was still during COVID, so there were protocols in effect. This year, the first Grand Entry, there was more people than we thought there would be. Usually, it’s the evening one that brings in more of the people, but even more came to attend the one in the morning,” said Marule-Mclean. “It was nice to see everyone in the stands, people enjoying themselves with family and seeing each other. They haven’t seen each other for a while. I love it here at the powwow because I run into so many friends and family members, its wonderful to see.”
The powwow draws in many Indigenous communities to Lethbridge, including neighbours to the south. Douglas “Dougie” Hall had the honour of being one of the MC’s for the event, coming up to Lethbridge from Browning, Montana.
“It’s a big honour, especially for me, because I’m from down in the states,” Hall said. “The Blackfoot up here are a bit more fluent in our language and they are more in tune with our culture. They are traditional, and they have their knowledge up here. So it was a pretty big honour to ask me to come up here and MC, got me excited and nervous all at the same time,” said Hall, adding he’d come back to Canada for Tim Hortons anytime.
With the powwow not coming to a close until Sunday night, the festivities kept those working the event busy from Saturday to Sunday.
“Its fun and a little hectic, I love it, the experience is awesome and the energy is great,” said Matthew Whitecloud, area director for this year’s powwow. “A lot of people come here to the powwow and its awesome to be the guy that looks after all the dancers. It’s pretty important to be asked to be the arena director, because you are in charge of the floor, in charge of the dancers, making sure everything goes smoothly, and everybody has a good time.”
This past weekend saw Indigenous community members gather and celebrate their culture and history, dancing and celebrating to a new year in 2023.
“We are proud of our culture and language, and want to keep that going,” said Marule-Mclean. “I want to thank everyone who came out and all the staff that helped bring this event together.” 2
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