Dreamcatcher 2001

Page 31

It's become a tradition. Each year, youth from across the country attend Grant MacEwan Community College's Dreamcatcher Youth Conference where they are treated to a variety of educational workshops, cultural activities and even a Much Music Video Dance.

On the Oct. 12 weekend, ceremonies to open the conference's ninth year included demonstrations of breakdancing, the jingle dance and the chicken dance. The showstopper, however, was an inspired and energetic display of hoop dancing by Alberta's own Dallas Arcand.

Hip Hop group Redd Nation was joined by dancer/singer Clinton Soto in an emotional rendition of My Friend, Wilburn's Song, that had the tears flowing down Soto's face as he performed the soulful work. A blanket dance gathered almost $800 in donations to the Sept. 11 victims' fund in the United States.

The host of the Dreamcatcher Aborigional Youth Conference is the Child and Youth Care Program. Val Courchene is the founder of the conference and a graduate of the program. She is active in the planning of Dreamcatcher, as well as offers a workshop on taking responsibility.

Workshops covered a wide variety of interests, and included craft oriented activities such as beading and drum making, life skills programming such as teen sexuality and teen parenting, and Elders circles on Aboriginal cultural.

Workshops were either inspirational by design, or just provided a few laughs. A volleyball tournament helped athletic youth expend energy, and provided some friendly competition between regions.