Otsenhákta Student Centre’s yearly event was more popular than ever.
The Otsenhákta Student Centre’s (OSC) third annual powwow took place at the Loyola Campus last Friday. Elementary school groups, university students, elders and members of local Indigenous communities gathered under a large tent to enjoy dancing, chanting and drumming.
The OSC teamed up with the Hive Free Lunch to prepare three sisters soup and bannock bread for the event, which was served with a strawberry drink. The main tent, which hosted the ceremonies, was surrounded by 25 kiosks of local Indigenous vendors.
Concordia student Destiny Thomas was one of the vendors at the event. Thomas, who learned how to bead in middle school, started her beadwork jewelry business in 2020.
“There’s also a lot of people coming in, and kids from schools, from middle schools, even little kids,” said Thomas. “So it’s a learning experience for them and they get to see the culture of the music, the dancing, all of the crafts. And for vendors, it’s way more vendors than [when] we started.”
The powwow was organized by the OSC, the on-campus resource centre for First Nations, Inuit and Métis students at Concordia. OSC manager Cheyenne Henry was the head of the planning committee. Kanien’kéha performers highlighted Henry’s work in an honour song during the powwow.
Round dancing is a regular event at powwows. Dancers from the host nation, in this case Kanien’kéha, dance in a counterclockwise motion, while guests from invited nations dance clockwise. Gifts were also offered between nations.
“It’s really nice to come here and dance and sing together with everybody who you don’t see all the time,” said Kanien’kéha dancer Teioronhiáthe Phillips. “There’s people from different nations that I see at different powwows here. And [the powwow] is always something to bring all kinds of people together. Not just Native people.”
Phillips also performed the Haudenosaunee Smoke Dance, which is considered to be the fastest traditional dance throughout Indigenous cultures.
“That big drum, when you hear it, that represents thunder,” he said. “And when we’re dancing, we’re dancing to give thanks to the rain and the thunder. So you’ll see, sometimes when we dance, it’ll rain a couple of days later.”
The first annual powwow was organized in 2022 to celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of the OSC. That year, the OSC also changed its name from the Aboriginal Student Resource Centre, which was changed from the original Native Education Centre.
“Otsenhákta” in Kanien’kéha means “close to the fire,” reflecting the centre’s goal of making students feel welcome and creating community.
Lance Delisle, the powwow’s master of ceremonies and host of Kahnawà:ke’s Reviving Kanehsatà:ke Radio, was impressed with the event’s turnout. The Concordia alumnus, who on average hosts a dozen powwows yearly, enjoyed the OSC’s hospitality.
“Concordia has made a real conscientious effort to be extremely inclusive and, most importantly, understanding of everyone else who doesn’t understand about powwows,” he said. “So we want to give them the experience. To me that shows that Concordia certainly has a pulse on the community, has a pulse on the Indigenous way of life.”
