After a full week of events running from September 12 to 15, McGill University’s first Aboriginal Awareness Week concluded with the tenth Annual Pow Wow on lower field.
This is the first year that the annual Pow Wow, a celebration aimed to showcase the talents and work of indigenous communities, was prefaced with a week of related events. Some of these events included a stone-carving workshop, rhythm nights, various lectures, spoken word performances, and a number of panel discussions.
The week was a joint effort between McGill’s First Peoples’ House and the Aboriginal Sustainability Project, and was designed to heighten awareness and promote understanding of Aboriginal issues on campus.
McGill-based groups such as KANATA, a student-run association and journal that aims to encourage awareness and education on indigenous issues and culture, actively participated in the week’s events.
Pamela Fillion, primary advisor and one of the co-founders of KANATA, explained, “What this has really done is to bring different groups on campus and in the community to really work together, to work on our common goals of which there are many.”
The week was a enormous success, according to Kakwiranó:ron Cook the aboriginal community outreach coordinator at the First People’s House at McGill.
The First People’s House plans to follow up Aboriginal Awareness Week with events throughout the year intended to raise awareness and promote education on Aboriginal culture and issues.