The Songhees Nation — and some of its youngest members — are re-entering the North American powwow circuit following a two-decade hiatus.
For the first time, South Island Powwow at Royal Athletic Park on Monday featured many of the traditional dance competitions and specials seen at other powwows across the continent.
The event, hosted by Songhees Nation with support from the City of Victoria, saw 11,000 attendees at its peak and included the ironman competition in which contestants dance until only one person is standing.
“It’s a popular [dance] special of endurance,” said Songhees Nation councillor Garry Sam. “They’re encouraged to go all out, every single song and dance.”
Sam said the modern-day powwow is an amalgamation of Indigenous cultures and practices from across the continent.
“The jingle dance comes from the Ojibwe in Ontario and the fancy dance came from the Oklahoma people,” he said.
Collectively, powwows held in places including Cache Creek, Kamloops, Langley, and Seattle, Washington, form a “circuit” that crosses the U.S.-Canada border and encompasses much of Western North America.
Sam said Songhees youth are picking up the powwow tradition that began with powwows hosted by the George and Joseph families more than two decades ago.
“They love it. They love the idea of making their own regalia and learning how to do the dances, learning where they come from,” he said.
Maci Seaweed, 8, said she would like to try out the ironman competition one day.
She danced her first fancy dance competition on Monday wearing regalia in her favourite colours of purple and pink.
Maci, who was officially welcomed into the powwow circuit at the South Island Powwow last year, said she had been practising hard for her competition but was still a little nervous.
Songhees councillor Margaret Charlie said she’s very proud of the youth.
“They’ve worked really hard to learn and to dance, and we were fortunate enough to have [the] Westwind drum group come and spend some time with the youth,” she said.
Westwind Intertribal drum group member Chance Retasket said the Saanich Peninsula-based group will always be happy to teach the next generation of powwow drummers and dancers.
“If you watch our drum [circle] now, we have our little ones, like Raven — she’s turning one tomorrow — sitting at the drums, she has her own drumsticks,” he said. “We have Avery, who’s three years old. She sings with us at home and she sings all our songs.”
Retasket said the introduction of special competitions and prize money at the South Island Powwow will draw dancers and attendees from across North America.
Already, the number of attending drum groups has more than doubled from the first year it was held in 2022 as a demnstration event with no competitions or prize money, he said.
Charlie said that in addition to celebrating Indigenous dance, food and art, the South Island Powwow is also an event to recognize and remember the ancestors who survived the residential school era.
Many children from Songhees Nation were forced to attend the Kamloops Indian Residential School when it was active from 1890 to 1969, she said.
Charlie said it was amazing to see how many people are coming out to support Songhees at the South Island Powwow.
The nation hopes to extend it to a two-day format in the future, she said.
The 2024 South Island Powwow received more than $50,000 of financial and in-kind support from the City of Victoria, including free use of the facilities at Royal Athletic Park.
Other sponsors that contributed more than $10,000 included Destination Greater Victoria, the Greater Victoria Harbour Authority, the HUB International insurance company, Métis Nation B.C., and the municipalities of Langford, Oak Bay, Saanich and Esquimalt.
