Indigenous Circle: Significance of the circle and powwow

In the latest edition of Indigenous Circle, Donna Sound of CTV National News travels northwest of Edmonton to the Alexis Nakota Sioux Nation, where she speaks with Chief Tony Alexis about the significance of the circle and the powwow.

“The circle is a part of life, it’s a part of natural law. If you take a pebble and throw it in water, it will create a circle. Birds build their nests in a circle,” Alexis said.

Powwows themselves take the form of a circle.

“The circle is a natural law, and it’s the way that the creator made law,” he said. “By following that, it allows us to be one with it. Sometimes we want to change things, and we may try, but ultimately we always come back to what the creator has made for us.”

Watch the full conversation between Chief Tony Alexis and Donna Sound in the video above.