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First Nations traditions shared on Canada Day

First Nations performers decked out in colourful costumes while dancing rhythmically to the beat of a drum has become a part of our Canada Day celebrations for decades.

First Nations performers decked out in colourful costumes while dancing rhythmically to the beat of a drum has become a part of our Canada Day celebrations for decades.

For the First Nations people, it’s about sharing a piece of history dating back thousands of years, said Travis Jimmy John, a drummer with Eden Valley’s Spotted Rock Drumming Group.

“Canada Day in itself is not a significant meaning to our people,” he said. “From my understanding, across the nation a lot of aboriginal people are 50/50 on the issue. A lot say genocide and assimilation took place. There’s another group that says it is what it is.”

For people like Jimmy John, the hardships his people experienced was something they had to endure to reach a place of unity.

“My personal opinion is we had to, as aboriginal people, go through those negative experiences because they say there is a time coming that a global unity will come and return to the ways of the aboriginal teachings,” he said. “When that time comes, and it’s our time to lead, we won’t make the same mistakes.”

The Lakota white buffalo calf woman prophesy states when the first Europeans arrive the aboriginal people will go through seven generations of hardships before there is unity among all people, said Jimmy John.

“The sign to watch out for was a white buffalo calf being born and from that time forward we are told to prepare,” he said, adding a white buffalo calf was born in Wisconsin in 1996. “The native people will be the ones to show the rest of the world how to live in harmony with Mother Heart.”

Traditionally, the First Nations people proudly display their history through song and dance on Canada Day.

“Most of the songs that we perform have been passed down from generation to generation,” said Jimmy John. “Some are well over 200 years old.”

The Spotted Rock Drumming Group will accompany dancers from the Stoney Nakoda Nation tribe at Black Diamond’s Diamond Music Fest July 1 in Erma Joy Brown Park.

Each drummer uses a stick to pound on a large drum made of wood and rawhide while joining together in song.

“The drum has been a part of us from the beginning of time,” said Jimmy John. “They say the drum is the voice of the people. It’s so pure that it speaks without words. We believe it has a spirit of its own.”

Each performance is significant, he said.

The men’s traditional dance, originated among the Sioux people, was performed before men left for war to ensure victory, said Jimmy John. The men’s grass dance, which is also Sioux, was performed at each new camp.

“They would stomp down the tall grasses where the village would be set up and bless the area,” he said.

The chicken dance, originated among the southern Alberta Blackfoot people, is performed by young men who have their eye on a young women,” said Jimmy John. The drumming imitates the thumping sound the prairie grouse uses to attract mates, he said.

“They dress in their finest regalia and pull out their best moves,” he said.

The women’s and men’s fancy dance is a contemporary dance that goes back to the days of Buffalo Bill.

“From my understanding, Buffalo Bill wanted a little more excitement to the dances so he asked the drummers if they could speed up the drum beat for a more colourful regalia,” he said. “For the men we do four leads per song. After each lead the drum beat picks up faster and faster until it’s almost impossible to keep up. The dancer who can keep up with it is usually the winner.”

The men wear feather bustles and the women wear an elaborately-decorated shawl, he said.

Another popular dance is the women’s jingle dance.

Jimmy John said it originated from the Ojibwa people from a story about spirits who showed a young woman how to heal her ill grandmother by making a dress that jingles and performing a specific dance.

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