Concordia hosts second annual Pow Wow

Concordia University’s Loyola campus came alive with the sights and sounds of Indigenous life and culture on Friday as they hosted their second annual Pow Wow.

Cheyenne Henry was named the new director of Concordia’s Otsenhakta Student Centre this summer, and in her role, Henry is mandated with leading the centre for First Nations, Inuit and Metis students.

“In a post-secondary institution, there are things we can do that can help Indigenous students reconcile their learning, like engaging in our culture and arts practices to balance out the Westernized, colonized way of learning,” Henry said.

Starting at 11 a.m. in the Loyola Campus quad space in N.D.G., a series of exhibitions were held, including traditional throat singing, dancing, drumming and a smoke dance demonstration will all be on tap. An opening and closing ceremony were also held.

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The exhibition goes a long way toward allowing Indigenous students to feel safe and accepted on the campus, Henry added.

“It’s so important for Indigenous students that the support they receive reflects who they are. Students need to have a space where they can explore themselves, explore what education means to them, what community means to them and where that can lead them,” she said. “I hope we can create a space where these types of conversations can happen – with each other, with elders and through cultural practices – along with providing student support services. To have these conversations, it’s important that we safeguard this space for us.”

Henry, who hails from the Roseau River Anishinaabe First Nation in Manitoba and grew up in Winnipeg, said Indigenous perspectives add value to any conversation and that those conversations are worth having.

“I also hope that we can incorporate this work and approach across the university. There’s so much value in what we promote as Indigenous people, and we have a lot of knowledge to share,” she said. “When I think about implementing an Indigenous way of doing, it means working through connections. It means grounding our work in reciprocal relationships and in our interconnectedness.”

A number of Indigenous vendors were also on site, allowing passers-by to purchase handmade crafts and natural, handmade products.

Henry said her role is important as a way to create dialogue between cultures and build bridges.

“There’s such a need to create culturally and spiritually safe spaces for our people. I saw this role as a chance to incorporate new ideas, provide opportunities for students and be part of this decolonizing work more intimately. As an Indigenous person in these institutions, you’re always going to be part of this work anyways, above and beyond what our regular titles are,” she said. Such support “gave me a sense of safety and community when I was a student, as a young single mom without a lot of financial support. In university, I had an Indigenous advisor and my cohort of Indigenous students along the way. That was really what helped me be successful as a student; I wouldn’t have made it through my degree without that support.”

Concordia University’s Loyola campus came alive with the sights and sounds of Indigenous life and culture Friday as they hosted their second annual Pow Wow. https://t.co/E50O9Hrz8I pic.twitter.com/EgjsbARyvr

— CityNews Montreal (@CityNewsMTL) September 15, 2023