ÎYARHE NAKODA – Looking up at jam-packed grandstands and feeling the rough leather reins in his hands, elder Watson Kaquitts still remembers the nerves he felt in the few seconds before a steer came barreling out of the gate. While his bull doggin’ years are behind him now, the Goodstoney First Nation councillor and cowboy wants the Nation’s youth to have the same opportunity he did to saddle up and learn the ropes of rodeo. “We have to look for ways for our young people to be proud of themselves,” said Kaquitts. Goodstoney First Nation chief and council are bringing rodeo tradition back to the Chief Goodstoney Rodeo Centre on Saturday and Sunday (Nov. 7-8), and it’s all with the Nation’s youth in mind. “It’s the first time in a long time,” said Kaquitts of the Goodstoney Îethka Heritage Rodeo that will see events like bull and bronc riding, team roping, barrel racing and steer wrestling return to the facility for the first time in 20 years. Kaquitts hopes the rodeo creates an opportunity for the youth to develop as cowboys and cowgirls, while giving them a path to go competitive. “I always tell [the youth] that us people, Stoneys, were always good cowboys. There’s champions from here. Ever since rodeo was introduced, our guys were good horsemen,” he said. “That’s all we did, was horseback ride back in the day.” Chief and council hopes reviving the rodeo will give the young people “something to look up to.” “We said, ‘I think we have to bring it back’ because our young people are getting into bad stuff, drugs and stuff like that and they end up in downtown Calgary and we bring their bodies back,” said Kaquitts. “At least if we can save a few, that’ll be good.” Once lively a rodeo hub, the Chief Goodstoney Rodeo Centre slowly fell into disrepair, said Kaquitts, and events began to taper off in the early 2000s. Seeing a need for the facility among the youth, Chief Clifford Poucette and council initiated the restoration of the building in need of an upgrade and with renovations recently completed, it is fit for rodeo once more. “One of the things that kind of slowed us down was the building was not safe and the roof was leaking and even then we had powwows in there,” said Kaquitts of the centre that was first built in 1982. “All that is safe now.” Kaquitts remembers the early ‘80s and ‘90s when the rodeo centre was bustling with events and “everybody was excited” to gather there. “We even had pro rodeos and we called it Last Chance Rodeo,” said Kaquitts of the event that gave competitors one more go at qualifying for finals in Edmonton. “There was no facility like the rodeo centre. “We wanna bring that back.” President of the rodeo club at the time, Kaquitts competed in bull doggin’ and team roping and always had his eye on the big leagues – the Indian National Finals Rodeo south of the border. “I wanted to participate and I had to work on it. I kept trying. Every year, I didn’t make it,” Kaquitts recalled. “My stepfather was really good at [telling me], ‘Never give up. If you don’t make it this year, there’s next year you can try. Next year you can try.’ He used to tell me, ‘Don’t give up.’” Kaquitts took those words to heart and in 1984 he qualified for the national finals held in Albuquerque, New Mexico. “I did pretty good,” he said. “In 1985, the horse pulled me off that steer, so that kinda cost me. But that’s the way rodeo goes. Not everybody’s a champion.” Beyond hosting rodeos, Kaquitts says he hopes to see the facility, located just west of Mînî Thnî, become a training space for Indian relay racing and other rodeo events through the winter. “After watching the relay rides on TV … I think that kinda motivated our young people to want to ride,” said Kaquitts, who also owns Indian relay team Mînî Thnî Blue Feather, who competed at the Stampede this summer. “There’s boys out there that want to try [rodeo] and I think they just need our help to get into it … and that’s why we’re here,” he added. “As long as we develop one really good cowboy or cowgirl, we’ll be proud of them.” Thanking Chief Poucette for initiating the restoration of the rodeo centre, Kaquitts says the Nation hopes the Goodstoney Îethka Heritage Rodeo will be the first of many. “ If we have one now, and then if it turns out really good we’re looking at another one after New Year’s and throughout the winter,” Kaquitts said. “ I’m talking to our people to see how we can come up with funding.” Events start at 6 p.m. on Saturday (Nov. 7) and at 2 p.m. on Sunday (Nov. 8). Admission is $10. Elders and children under seven are free. The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada. The position covers Îyârhe (Stoney) Nakoda First Nation and Kananaskis Country. Leah Pelletier, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Rocky Mountain Outlook
