Mother/Daughter Celebration - Keepers of tradition

Page 8

The 11th annual Mother/Daughter Celebration which took place Feb. 17 at Thunderchild First Nation was a celebration with an unusual twist and some powerful goals.

"Our annual Mother/Daughter banquet is a feast to celebrate all the women living on the reserve as 'Keepers of Tradition.' It was also a way to help keep the bonds between female generations strong. To help keep traditional women's ways alive and well. A once a year celebration that helps to highlight and emphasize the importance of a well-rounded education for girls and young women," explained event coordinator Linda Okanee.

The James Okanee Memorial Hall was beautifully decorated with blue and silver streamers, balloons and giant dream catchers. In an interesting turnabout, a number of local Thunderchild teens and men came out and showed their respect by cooking, serving and presenting flowers, to help honor the ladies of the community.

"The Mother/Daughter banquet is a tradition we have maintained since 1989," said Ralph Morin, Thunderchild's director of education. "It's our special way of honoring women. It was decided 11 years ago that we would bring all the women of the community together and have the men serve and wait on the ladies for a day. In these times, it is a real turnabout for men to serve women, but traditionally men were the servers at feasts and ceremonies. Women were regarded very highly in traditional society. In the old days, men speaking at a tribal meeting would immediately sit down if a woman rose to speak, to show their great respect for her words."

It's also an opportunity for our female Elders to pass on their knowledge, to try and bring back the bridge between generations, that traditional respect and interaction, said Morin.

Along with their mothers, grandmothers, great grandmothers and aunties, young ladies from Grades 1 to 12 joined in a program that included prayers, feasting and a colorful stage production put on by fellow students.

After the opening prayers, a traditional feast was served by the men and young boys of the community, who left no stone unturned to make the ladies feel special. After a Valentine dessert of strawberry shortcake, all of the mothers were presented with fresh flowers.

"What we are trying to bring back is that honor, teach our young men to serve and respect," said Okanee.

Okanee gave an inspiring speech about the importance of guiding the mothers of tomorrow, developing strong tribal bonds and sharing the teachings between aunties, grandmothers, daughters and granddaughters.

"We have to remember that mothers were put on this Earth as a gift from the Creator and that these daughters are a special gift to be loved, guided and cherished. That when they leave the school, they leave as well-educated, intellectual individuals capable of being good mothers themselves." she added.

The drama club presented a charming little stageplay about how to honor and bring past and present traditions together. It was a simple play with a powerful message.

The play opened with an energetic display of break dancing from the boys of the teenage cast. After an argument about what was better, modern break dancing or traditional powwow dancing, the young actors decided to ask the Elders.

"Mushum and Kokom, how did you meet and fall in love so many years ago. How did you guys use to dance?"

Musham told them that he first caught Kokum's eye at a school dance, just like this one. He really impressed her with his hot boogie woogie moves. But it wasn't until she saw him doing the grass dance that grandmother really became hooked. She knew then, that he was the one.

"A lot of things come and go, like crazy dance styles, haircuts and clothing," said Mushum.

Like zoot suits, big ties, bell bottoms, rings in the nose or purple streaks in the hair.

Every generation has its own way of doing things. But then there are some things that last forever and will always hold us together, like traditional dancing and grampa's and gramma'slove for each other, added Mushum.

After the stageplay, a colorful lightshow that mixed break dancing with grass, jingle and girls traditional, brought down the filled-to- capacity house.

Elder Gladys Wapass Greyeyes gave a closing prayer about blending new ways and old traditions.

"The Mother/Daughter Celebration is a great opportunity for people of the community to come together in a happy situation. The grandmothers are continuing to pass on traditional ways while the children are learning the regular school programs. It is our job to integrate our values and beliefs in the regular school system. I believe that our women were really well protected years ago and they were regarded as the keepers of tradition. They were honored for that. They were honored as the owners of lodges and food. Children were looked after through the extended family of the women. All of our aunties are called 'Little Mothers' in Cree - Nikawis. We shared the responsibilities for the tribe," she said. "Thunderchild was the first reserve in Canada to bring education home to the reserve, to take control of its own education. Things are better now for girls and women in our education system and through various women's programs, becoming more integrated in our band.

"We had the Bold Eagle Military Unit come for a visit last year and lots of young girls became interested in the training program. We want to teach all the young people about the special needs of women, stop the violence, and are receiving a lot of support from the new social initiative package from chief and council which supports Cree tradition, language and respect for Elders," added Wapass Greyeyes.