When Maretta Jones puts on her jingle dress, the competitive dancer has more in mind than winning.
“I love dancing, and I dance for the people,” said Jones, of Wasauksing First Nation, near Parry Sound.
The jingle dress, she explained, is “a healing dress for the people.”
“I compete, but there’s still that healing that has to happen.”
Jones was one of more than 300 dancers who took part in the 33rd annual Rama First Nation Powwow on the weekend at the John Snake Memorial Multi-Purpose Community Grounds. She brought her five-year-old grandson and seven-year-old granddaughter with her. She wants to ensure they continue to learn about their culture – “the only way they learn is by example” – but she acknowledged her grandkids aren’t the only ones who can learn a thing or two from an event like the powwow.
Visitors from various backgrounds and parts of the world attend the event, and it’s an ideal venue for them to get to know about other cultures.
“They want to address it to all of the people. A lot of people don’t understand the significance of the dance styles or why we powwow,” Jones said. “Some people still think we live in teepees, that we’re heathens.”
“If we don’t teach and educate, people are not going to know,” she continued. “They’ll still have that misconstrued idea of who we are.”
Shunning other cultures is not the Indigenous way, and that was evident on the weekend as everyone was welcome to join in the festivities and the dancing.
That’s the way it should be, said Myrna Watson, the head elder in Rama.
“We’re all Native,” she said. “We were all one people at one time. It gives us big joy to dance together, to be happy and sing.”
The importance of that sense of community, of togetherness, has been passed down over generations. Watson’s mother’s grandfather, Charlie Big Canoe, was a hereditary chief of Rama, as was her father’s father, Samuel Snake.
They are lessons Watson holds dear and calls upon at different times, like when she provides the opening prayer at the powwow or prior to Rama band council meetings.
The powwow, which Watson has been attending for most of its 33 years, is especially meaningful to the elder.
“It’s a time of giving thanks for everything the Creator gave us. We were brought up to always be thankful,” she said, noting the powwow used to be held at Thanksgiving. “I just love our communities and our gatherings.”
The powwow also featured drummers and singers, as well as plenty of food, arts and crafts.
