HAVRE, Mont. (NMB) – This year’s Great Northern Fair will feature a Powwow.
Northern Winz Commissioner Rebekah Jarvey helped organize the event and says people have been anxiously waiting for a powwow for well over a year.
“I think everybody is excited to have a powwow, because it’s been 17 months since Rocky Boy had their Christmas Powwow. So I think it’s just going to be a nice get together to dance and celebrate. Just to feel that spirit and the heartbeat of the drum.”
The Powwow is scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, with festivities beginning at 1 PM on each day with grand entries. Registration opens at 11 AM.
Sunday afternoon will feature a memorial song honoring those impacted by COVID, as well as the hundreds of children found in unmarked graves at residential schools in Canada.
“It’s really highly sensitive, because a lot of our people here in Rocky Boy have cousins, close cousins, in Canada. And so I think it affects us greatly, because we have somebody we know that went to residential school and that survived. And we had schools like that here in the United States, but they weren’t called residential schools. Some of the same stuff had happened…Most of us, our grandparents and parents were survivors. So this is a really sensitive topic. And it really causes a lot of feelings and uproar, because non-natives…most of them are good allies, but it brings up and it triggers a lot of emotions and feelings. I see a lot getting mad and offended on social media. It’s not to get mad and offended, because we’re not mad at them. We’re just heartbroken and hurt over the system, over what the government did to our people. It’s really inhumane what had happened to our people. So we’re still trying to figure it out and work through it the best we can and the best we know how. And having a powwow and celebrating our way of life is one step towards reconnecting with our culture and bringing awareness.”
It is important to remember that photographs or video of the powwow should only be taken with permission of the participants.
Other events scheduled to take place at the Northern Winz tent at the fairgrounds includes a hot dog eating contest at 8 PM on Friday, as well as a Stand Up Comedy Show on Friday from 7-9 PM.
This comes as the annual Rocky Boy Pow Wow was canceled for a second straight year. It is set to return in 2022.
