‘This is our culture’: Wanuskewin celebrates National Indigenous Peoples Day

For Jayce Sutherland, powwow dancing is a family affair. She danced alongside her children in a celebration of National Indegenous Peoples Day.

For Jayce Sutherland, powwow dancing is a family affair. On Sunday at Wanuskewin Heritage Park, the mother of four shared her passion for the art alongside two of her children in celebration of National Indigenous Peoples Day.

“Our powwow family group was here to celebrate and just kind of story tell the scenery behind what dances are and what they mean and where they originated from. And kind of our own personal stories of how we got into the powwow circle and why,” Sutherland said.

Wanuskewin Heritage Park hosted several events in celebration of National Indigenous Peoples Day, including a feature on powwow dancing and its importance in Indigenous culture.

“Powwow dancing is a part of our identity and a part of our healing. I feel that our cultures are already kind of in the healing process, but it’s not 100 per cent there. And I feel like each person that joins dancing is a percentage of healing, and soon everybody’s going to be proud of...their Indigenous culture and their Indigenous history,” Sutherland said.

Now 12, Wolf Sutherland was the one to inspire the rest of his family to get more involved in dancing. He and one of his sisters accompanied their mom for the presentation, along with their father who has been lovingly deemed the chauffeur/security guard for the family passion.

“I was the first one to get them all dancing...I just started dancing and then my sister came in...And then my older brother and then my mom was like, now I got to dance. So she started dancing and I got my entire family dancing. Now all we’re trying to do is get my taxi dad to get dancing,” Wolf Sutherland said.

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The family shared their passion, talent, and knowledge of different dances with the crowd at Wanuskewin. For Jayce Sutherland, it has been very rewarding to see her children discover their love of dancing, and she’s hopeful that the passion will continue for generations to come.

“I can’t even put into words on how proud it is that I’ve had four kids dance, and I have two that are dancing with me today. I feel it gives me great strength and confidence, knowing that I’m going to have grandchildren one day that are going to be dancing, and my life dream is to live healthy and long, but to be able to speak fluently to my grandchildren one day while they’re dancing in the regalia as well,” Sutherland said.

Wolf Sutherland said dancing serves many different purposes and it is a way to tell stories.

“We do it for teachings, we do for show, we do it for health, we do it for healthy lives, we do for other people...I feel happy, I always feel happy [when dancing]...I’m trying to tell how the wind goes and how it comes back and how we move,” Wolf Sutherland said.

Jayce Sutherland said it was meaningful to not only dance for the crowd at Wanuskewin, but also to share knowledge regarding the importance and meaning behind each style of dance.

“Our regalia are not costumes. This is who we are. This is our culture, and it’s not going anywhere. So I hope they see the importance and the bright colors and the beauty that our performance. We’re not just dancing to dance. We’re dancing to heal for ourselves, for our family, and for anyone that’s watching,” Jayce Sutherland said.

Sutherland added that while teaching others about powwow dancing is a year-round passion, it is extra meaningful on National Indigenous Peoples Day.

“If you could take part in any event that involving First Nations, Inuit, Métis, it is just to take part and learn. Our Indigenous culture nationwide is powerful, but we’re healing and we can’t heal if not everyone on the face of the planet is going to heal together,” Jayce Sutherland said.