On March 3, a powwow will take place organized by the MAQAHATINE collective. On the theme “Feeding our winter fires”, more than thirty indigenous dancers will come to express their culture and share their art with Montrealers and local indigenous communities. A way for them to “make more accessible” an ancestral gathering.
“This event did not happen overnight. On the contrary. We are six years later and that’s it, for me, the Wilder Building is ready to host its first mini-powwow,” says Ivanie Aubin-Malo, contemporary dancer and instigator of the event. Quebecois and Wolastoqiyik, Mme In 2015, in Vancouver, Aubin-Malo received lessons from Curtis Joe Miller, recommended by James Jones. He then teaches her the Fancy Shawl dance, also called the butterfly dance. A style that she only discovered as an adult.
“One of my first memories of a powwow was in Eskasoni, Nova Scotia, when I was very little, in my mother’s arms. I remember wearing a dress with white and orange beading made by my godmother, I remember the scent of sweetgrass and especially the sound of the drums. » Years later, her godmother explained to her that there were no powwow dances at this event, but only local dances. “It was really when I met James Jones that I learned powwow dancing,” she adds.
Upon her return to Montreal, Ivanie Aubin-Malo found that there was a lack of regular events that would help cultivate ties between the city’s Indigenous people. “In Vancouver, every week, I knew where to go to dance, to interact with people from the surrounding indigenous communities,” she emphasizes. After helping to organize the closing evening of the symposium Restrained bodies, dancing bodies, organized by the company Ondinnok and Tangente in 2018, Ivanie Aubin-Malo became a curator for Tangente. “I then had access to resources to propose ideas within the dance community. In four years, with MAQAHATINE, we have organized three intergenerational gatherings and nearly 30 workshops for Indigenous dancers, she reports. Over these years, the links have solidified between us, the web has been woven. In May 2023, we were ready to open the circle and expand it to reach a greater diversity of people. »
Create bridges
“It’s crazy that I’ve never been in contact [avec ces danses] whereas these are local cultures.” This is what some of my friends said after coming to their first powwow,” says Ivanie Aubin-Malo. This is particularly why she wanted to hold a powwow in the Place des Arts district. “It’s very symbolic for me. Powwows are events that are difficult to access for people without a car. There is no direct bus to get there [rires] ! With this event, we wanted to make this powwow accessible to the inhabitants of Tio’tià:ke/Mooniyang [Montréal] and show that this celebration can also be done in winter,” she says. Indeed, powwows generally take place within indigenous communities, outdoors during the summer and in gymnasiums when it is cold.
Despite this great opportunity, Ivanie Aubin-Malo is not rejoicing too quickly. “We still don’t have a place of our own in the city to hold this type of event. This is why we have no choice in working with partners who have rooms. However, we say that we are on unceded indigenous territory, whose land and water guardians are the Kanien’kehà:ka,” she says.
Powwows within communities follow certain protocols. First, there is the grand entrance, where the men with the drums begin to play and sing. The dancers and certain invited people then parade little by little and open the dance circle. Each dancer wears his regalia (her dance costume), which is “unique to each person”. The Master of Ceremonies (MC) tells the dancers what is going to happen and shows the audience the respectful way to interact. “When you’ve never seen one, this entrance is very impressive,” says Mme Aubin-Malo. Next, the dance circle hosts powwow dances, intertribal dances (where everyone is welcome to dance), and special presentations. In powwows, in general, in addition to the numerous dance demonstrations, there are artisans and food sellers.
For the March 3 powwow, the organizing committee, made up of Thomasina Phillips, Barbara Diabo and Ivanie Aubin-Malo, chose several special guests. A theme unites them: “Feeding our winter fires”. “It refers to the end of winter, when traditionally our ancestors had almost no provisions left, a time when communities come together to renew their spirit and express their gratitude to the cycle of nature,” explains Mme Aubin-Malo. Coming together for this powwow will allow us to cultivate our inspiration and fuel our fires, once we return to our communities or our routines. »
In addition to guests and artists, everyone is also welcome to participate and dance. “No one needs to be invited to a powwow. Everyone can arrive and celebrate. I am happy that the Tangente rooms and the Agora de la danse, close partners of MAQAHATINE, are in the heart of the Place des Arts district, because the people who frequent it are used to experiencing new things, rub shoulders, for example, with intriguing scenographies. So why not a powwow? It can be intimidating when you’re new to it, but you never regret experiencing a powwow, whether it’s our first or our hundredth. », she concludes.