聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 The White Bear Education Complex hosted their annual Interschool Powwow on Thursday, April 27, with students participating from Ochapowace, Peepeekisis, and White Bear to both dance and sing.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The event is one that brings school aged youth together with a common interest and is a beautiful showcase of First Nation culture.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The Grand Entry was held at 11 a.m. following a prayer by School Elder Nora Kakakaway. The entry song, victory song, and flag song were each played to mark the beginning of the powwow.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Welcoming elders to the event, WBEC also thanked two veterans for attending: Rocky Redwood and James McArthur.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 WBEC also welcomed Howie Thompson from Carry the Kettle to act as the MC for the event.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Throughout the day there were intertribal round dances held as well as categorized competitive dancing: Tiny Tots, Junior, Teen, and Senior.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Additionally there were four entries in the drumming category who played throughout the day, with a lot of praise from Thompson during breaks in playing.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Principal of WBEC Sherri Capo welcomed those in attendance: 鈥淭hank you for coming and for participating in our annual school powwow. We welcome you to our school and hope you feel like family, thank you to all that are participating; I hope you enjoy your day. And a big thank you to SIGA for helping to make this happen; and to the Powwow Committee for all of your hard work.鈥�
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