Thank you to all who came out to dance and celebrate with Rossbrook House children and youth, including community leaders, drum groups, and community dancers.

It was a wonderful event, thanks to you.

 

The Rossbrook House Pow Wow is back!

After taking a two-year break (due to the COVID-19 Pandemic), Rossbrook House is once again hosting the community Pow Wow on May 19. We look forward to welcoming community dancers and drum groups, along with community leaders and dancers from our participants and school programs.

History

The Rossbrook House Pow Wow has a long history…

In the early 1980’s Millie Stonechild began to work with a group of students at Eagles’ Circle, sharing teachings and culture.  In the process the students began to learn Pow Wow dancing. The participants included Val Mink (now Henderson), Sally Ogemah, Jackie Guimond, Bobby Guibeault, Denise Parisien, Theresa Land, Danny Patenaude and others.

This was the beginning of the first group of Rossbrook dancers, who began dancing at local Pow Wows.

The first Rossbrook Pow Wow was held in the spring of 1982 at St. Ignatius Church as a thank you to the parish for sponsoring Wi Wabigooni as an off-campus program for children in Grades 4 to6.  Wi Wabigooni students joined with the Eagles’ Circle dancers for that Pow Wow.

From those beginnings, the involvement grew to include participants at Rossbrook House as well as community dancers.

A new generation

The participants and students of Rossbrook House begin practicing this past April to be ready for this annual event that happens every May. Some of the children and youth will be dancing for the first time. For others, it will not be their first Pow Wow.

Cultural Teachings

Pow Wow practices at Rossbrook House include cultural teachings. Patricia Mainville and her son Matthew have been sharing their teachings with the children and youth. They are learning how to give thanks to the drum group with tobacco, show respect to other dancers and their regalia, and what an eagle feather represents.

The history of the regalia

The regalia worn by many of the Rossbrook dancers are a part of the legacy of the Rossbrook House Pow Wow, worn for generations of children and youth. They were first crafted by the students of Wi Wabogooni and a volunteer named Emil Her Many Horses, an Oglala Lakota from South Dakota.

Join us

Fifty to seventy adult community dancers will also take part, as well as several veterans and a number of drum groups. Many community and city leaders are invited to lead the dancers in the Grand Entry.