ALGONQUIN PARK – What makes a good pow-wow? Great weather. Lots of good food. Hospitality. Good singing and dancing. It isn’t really about the numbers, although it is good to have hundreds of dancers in beautiful regalia, and dozens of drums given their best. Most importantly, I feel it’s about having lots of friends and a great organization.
I attended the Algonquin Park Annual Pow-Wow for the second straight year at beautiful Centennial Ridges. These beautiful bluffs look out over the Lake of Two Rivers, home of the Algonquin people and traditional territory of the Anishinaabe. This is a spectacular backdrop for the pow-wow and for some great camping.Once again, I was really impressed and happy to be there. This pow-wow isn’t put on by seasoned vets of the pow-wow trail. It’s put on by highly motivated, hard working people each and every year. They strive to make everyone happy and comfortable. They work to uphold our traditions by holding teaching and sharing circles every morning.I was happy to be the MC at the gathering this weekend. There was only three drums and about 20 dancers or so – but that didn’t matter. We all felt the good feeling at this little pow-wow. There were many visitors, tourists and almost all stayed the whole day, either Saturday and Sunday. It was an excellent time.I was pleased that Lisa-Marie and Stan Taylor honoured the organizers with a special giveaway on Sunday afternoon. The couple presented Lisa Boldt with an eagle fan and Michael Boldt with an eagle whistle for their appreciation. Congratulations Lisa and Mike, these honours are well deserved.
I also enjoyed the two hoop dance specials to raise money for neutro-fibromatosis. First-time hoop dancer Penny showed us all the teaching of bravery not only by dancing with over twenty hoops, but in sharing her book called “I am NF”. Penny’s book features revealing photos of her, illustrating not just her disorder, but her courage and outward personality.Neurofibromatosis (NF) is a genetic disorder of the nervous system which causes tumors to form on the nerves anywhere in the body at any time. NF is one of the most common genetic disorders affecting one in every 3,000 to 4,000 births.
For more information on Neurofibromatosis, visit:
http://www.nfon.ca/
http://www.nfinc.org/
