Community gets cultural funding

Page 1

Members of cultural organizations on Wikwemikong Unceded Indian Reserve will be able to spend less time trying to raise funds and more time planning and holding events in 2006, thanks to funding from Canadian Heritage.

The money-a maximum of $500,000 according to the press release from Canadian Heritage-comes along with the community's designation as one of five Cultural Capitals of Canada for 2006 and is to be used to fund cultural and artistic activities.

Doris Peltier is program manager of the Wikwemikong Heritage Organization (WHO), the organization that submitted the winning application to Canadian Heritage. Peltier stressed that putting together the application was a team effort, with a number of community organizations contributing. That same team effort will be present throughout the year as each of funded activities takes place.

Some of the funding will be spent on the community's annual cultural festival, which celebrates its 46th anniversary in 2006. The festival, scheduled to be held Aug. 5 to 7, will not only provide a showcase for the songs, dances, arts and culture of the Anishnabe people, but will also feature exhibitions of Inuit culture.

"We'll be doing Inuit dance and drum demonstrations and will also be providing Inuit traditional games as workshops to the youth of the community."

Organizers of the festival try to feature different cultures in the event each year, Peltier said. "I think it helps provide not only the visitors to the community, but our community members, with the option to see different cultures that might not be accessible to get to."

A seven-week cultural awareness conference is also planned, scheduled to run from June 21 to Aug. 4. There will be a different theme for each week of the conference, based on the Seven Grandfather Teachings-love, respect, humility, bravery, honesty, truth and wisdom.

"We'll start off with lodge building, and hopefully once the lodge is completely covered, that's where we will conduct most of our workshops," Peltier said. "The Seven Grandfather Teachings workshops will be done within that teaching lodge, as well as talking about the seven clans-the origins of the clans, the different clans-so that people can come in and begin to understand what their clan is and what their responsibilities are."

The conference will also teach participants about moccasin making, traditional dance, traditional arts, harvesting of wild plants and traditional cooking.

The Wikwemikong Agricultural Society will be hosting a rodeo as a way of recognizing the important role agriculture played in the history of the community, Peltier said. In addition to the rodeo events themselves, there will also be opportunities for people to learn more about that agricultural tradition.

"They will be having information booths set up and talking about 4-H and how we want to bring that back to the community, and things like that."

Wikwemikong artists will also take part in commemorating the Cultural Capital of Canada designation by hosting an art show.

Currently these are the only events in the works, but Peltier is hopeful the funding from Canadian Heritage will allow the community to organize even more cultural and artistic events throughout 2006. To keep track of any new events or activities added to the schedule, she advises people to check in periodically on the WHO Web site at www.wikwemikongheritage.org.

The other cultural capitals of Canada for 2006 include Saskatoon, which will receive up to $2 million, St. John's, which will receive up to $750,000 in funding, and Saint-Joseph-de Beauce, Que. and the District of West Vancouver, B.C., which will each receive a maximum contribution of $500,000. The 2006 cultural capitals of Canada were selected by an advisory committee comprised of representatives of the 2005 cultural capitals of Canada- Algonquins of Pikwakanagan, Ont., Toronto, Victoria, Annapolis Royal, N.S. and Saint-Jean-Port-Joli, Que.