Have a great new century!

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Oki. What's happening here with Old Man Winter? Maybe he has passed by us or is going to visit us in the New Year. Some people say this strange weather is because the weather patterns are changing. If that's going to happen, then what about powwow summer? Is it going to be powwow spring?

It has been one heck of year, you know, this last year of the 1900s. I wanted to know what would be the event or the person of this millennium that made a difference? To me, it would be Christopher Columbus. Well, in Indian country.

There are a lot of round dances happening this month. Many of them are memorial round dances. Someone asked me about these memorial round dances and powwows. I told them to the best of knowledge that it usually takes place one year after the death of the relative, mainly to set the spirit free and give thanks for being a part of their lives. I know some families have them every year. This is to keep the person's memory alive.

Anyway, I have a few memorial round dances to share wih you. William Arthur Cree Memorial Feast and Round dance in Fort McMurray will take place on Dec. 17 at the Nistawoyou Friendship Centre. Phone (780) 334-2293.. Well, if you decide to stay up that way, travel south to Conklin. They are hosting a multi-family memorial round dance the very next day. You can phone (780) 559-2292.

I was talking with a lady from the Red Road Healing Society in Edmonton the other day about a pageant on Dec. 16. It's about the White Buffalo Calf, a Native creation story. This story is of the coming of the pipe and the seven sacred ceremonies of life. The Plains people believed in the White Buffalo Calf as the messenger from the Creator and carrier of the pipe.

Speaking of the Red Road Society, it was started in 1996. This society helps Native people living in the city to remember, renew and restore the traditions and values passed down from generation to generation. I have lived in the city for most of my life and I didn't learn my culture until I was 18 years old. For a long time, I was ashamed of being Native, because I didn't understand my heritage. Go visit and learn your culture. The more you understand, the more you have pride.

Sometimes fate can bring two people together after many years lost. I visited one of the board members of AMMSA the other week. Of course, we Native people always talk of where we came from rather than where we live now. I was telling Rosemarie about my bloodline, my father, Hector Winnipeg from Siksika, and my mother, Elsie Winnipeg from Cold Lake. She asked me what my mother's maiden name was. I told it was Janvier. She went on and told me, she and my mother were in the hospital together in their teens. In the next week, they contacted each other and talked about the last 40 years. If it weren't for my bingo travels, my mother and Rosemarie wouldn't have met again.

Hey, if you love powwow like I do, Tsuu T'ina Nation is hosting a powwow to celebrate the new millennium. It starts Dec. 31 and runs through to Jan. 2, 2000. If you want a boost of good fun mixed with culture check out their celebration!

And, yes, I have another joke to share. A person was getting prepped for an operation. He was given the dreaded enema and the nurse left the room. Not knowing what would happen, he made a mess in the bed. Being embarrassed he rolled up the sheet and threw it out the window. At that moment an inebriated guy was walking by the hospital window. The sheet fell on him and he was fighting with the sheet trying to get it off of him. A security guard happened to see this and came running over.."Are you okay?" he asked. The guy replied, "Yeah, but I think I just kicked the crap out of a ghost!"