Round dance honours 15th wedding anniversary

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Nakoda Nation couple Mark and Frances (Wesley) Poucette celebrated 15 years of married happiness March 25, with a round dance at the Morley gymnasium attended by more than 300 people.

Preparations for the special day were a family affair, with extended family assisting to sew the beautiful outfits, decorate the gymnasium and cook.

The couple and their attendants looked resplendent in clothing made from silk in traditional turquoise. The women's dresses were adorned with a design by Cynthia Susan Wesley, which featured eagle feathers and medicine wheels. The men wore shirts with a similar motif designed and sewn by Rodney Poucette. Frances and her sister-in-law Annie Wesley sewed the jackets and dresses for the women, with Annie starting her sewing only four nights before the event. Wedding bouquets were homemade dream catchers.

Marcia, 15, and Marika, 12, daughters of Mark and Frances, made bell clusters to decorate the gymnasium.

Early in the day, the Poucettes renewed their wedding vows in a ceremony at Morley United Church. Then the round dance began with a pipe ceremony conducted by Elder Eddie Holloway, uncle of Mark Poucette, followed by a feast. There was also a midnight lunch.

It was a fitting tribute to a family which has been instrumental for years in bringing the tradition of the round dance back to Morley reserve. In 1991, Mark Poucette put up one of the first round dances held in a long time on the reserve and since then there have been many, with Mark often offering support. According to his brother-in-law Bill Wesley, Morley is becoming known as the "round dance capital" in Alberta.

Excellent drumming and singing were provided by two drumming groups from Morley-Iya Nakoka and Stoney Park-and groups from Tsuu T'ina reserve, Frog Lake, and the well-known Red Bull drummers from Cut Knife, Saskatchewan.

Attendants for Frances were Marcia and Marika Poucette, Cecilia Wesley, Marilyn Abraham and Karen Rider. Mark was accompanied by the Poucettes' two-year-old son, Mark Jr., Gabriel Wesley, Randall Poucette, Elliott Benjamin and Newton Poucette.

Dancing went on until the wee hours of the next day. Emcees were Rod Hunter Jr. of Morley and Max Blood from Pigeon Lake.