Saugeen First Nation Pow Wow

This weekend we attended the 43rd annual competitional Pow Wow on the Saugeen First Nation reserve. It's a celebration of the Ojibwe heritage, with vibrant, gorgeous regalia and spiritual dancing, surrounded by a multitude of booths filled with handcrafted items such as beadwork, quill baskets, dream catchers, moccasins and delicious traditional native foods. 
I hadn't been to the Pow Wow for years, and was excited to bring Josie to her very first event. Not only is it something really cool to attend a Pow Wow, I wanted Josie to experience a little bit of our heritage. My mom is Native, and even though that only makes Josie about a sliver of native herself, I still want her to be aware of our family history and just how beautiful the native culture is. She was really into everything, especially the colours. So many colours. I picked her out some hot pink feathers and she wore them with pride. 

The dancers were amazing! It's so overwhelming to see their emotions come through their movements. I especially loved the elders, because you know they've been dancing for longer than you've been alive and it's just truly a beautiful thing. Josie really enjoyed the dancing and as soon as I let her out of her stroller, she was stomping and swaying along with the drums.

My second favourite part was seeing the children come out in their adorable regalia, the girl above had a Hello Kitty dress! I had to take a picture, and she happily obliged. It was cute to see the kids run around and dance with their parents and elders. And it's so nice to know this will be a tradition they will carry on with their own children. 

The handcrafted art and bead work was amazing. I wish I had brought a little bit more cash to buy a pair of moccasins, or get Cherie some materials to start making dream catchers again - mostly because I want Josie to have one made specially from her auntie! 

Our favourite part about the Pow Wow though, to be honest, was the food! We were all dying to bite into a fresh scone and fried bologna, and boy, was it worth the heat exhaustion and whiny babies! Oh man, is it delicious. Words can not even describe. I can't wait to bring Josie and Torin to the Pow Wow every summer. 
Have you ever been to a Pow Wow? What was your experience like? xo