Looked to for wisdom

Page 5

A special Jan. 28 ceremony of thanksgiving took place at the Native Pastoral Centre in honor of the many Elders who are regular and hard working members of the congregation.

The celebrations began with a mass and eucharist. The mass began with the burning of sweetgrass and ended with a traditional round dance.

Then a special feast of rabbit and bannock followed by the wild rice pudding, was served to the gathering of about 15 Elders who regularly attend the centre.

"Many Elders' feasts are held in December but we have ours now because we just don't have the time to prepare everything before Christmas . . . it is so hectic then," says pastoral assistant Lucienne Meek

Official Elder

Recently, Elder Connie Morin became the official Elder of the centre and was honoured in a special ceremony.

"Connie represents our Elders. We look to her for wisdom. When we look for an Elder we look for someone involved in the community, who has all the qualities of good citizenship, who is kind, generous and honest."

Meek and her helpers prepared the supper and served the Elders. Then five young powwow dancers entertained everyone with a display of traditional dancing ranging from fancy and grass through to an impressive sneak-up dance by two-year-old Billy Desjardin.

Other dancers included Ian Desjardin, 11, Bradley Cote, 5, Rhonda Cardinal, 15, and Karla Quinn, 15. Francis Badeagle, one of the Elders, drummed for the small group.

After the dancing the Elders were presented with commemorative crosses in rememberance of the work they have given the centre during the year.

The Native way

Then Francis Badeagle spoke to the congregation saying they could all take a lesson from the Elders.

"I used to be an alcoholic. I turned my back on my people . . . but now I have returned and I take joy in the Native way," he said.

In an interview after the celebrations, Meek said the centre is an important part of Native life as it combines the traditions of Native spirituality with the traditions of the Roman Catholic church.

"The compliment each other," she said. "We use the sweetgrass as incense and we use the eagle feather as a symbol of our faith next to the dove, (the traditional symbol) of the Roman Catholic faith."

Traditions complement

Meeks says the two traditions compliment each other; Native people always believed in one spirit creator so when Christian missionaries came to the country speaking of one God, the new religion was easily adopted.

"But there were some differences," she says. "But now that we have combined them into our kind of worship they work really well together."

Elders at the centre work in a variety of areas such as baptism, first communion and marriage counselling. They also take part in prayer meetings and act as eucharist workers during mass. The centre is located at 10829 ? 105 Avenue.