Drummers kept the beat. Dancers filled the floor. And for one afternoon, the Cenovus Energy Hub felt a little more like home.
Lloydminster Public School Division held its interschool powwow earlier this month at the Cenovus Energy Hub, bringing together students from across the division for a day of dancing, drumming, and learning rooted in Indigenous culture.
Cynthia Young, Indigenous program coordinator for LPSD, said the event matters in ways that go beyond a single afternoon.
“They’re showing off their regalia and they’re just full of pride and confidence and self-esteem,” Young said. “It’s important for us to do this right in our own hometown of Lloydminster.”
For Young, the mix of participants was as important as the programming itself. Indigenous students danced for classmates they share hallways with every day.
“They need their fellow students there so they see and they understand and they start absorbing the Indigenous culture,” she said.
The event was a collaborative effort. Young credited Heart of Treaty 6 and a long list of volunteers who helped bring it together.
“Everybody helped me put the fires out,” she said. “None of this gets done without a group of those people.”
As for what she hopes students carry away from their experience at the hub, years from now, Young kept it simple.
“How beautiful it is today,” she said. “How wonderful it is and how the good spirits are with us today.”
Read more: LPSD students react to paddling 348 km in Treaty 6 tribute
