Québec’s Powwow Season, a Summer Tradition, Kicks Off

By KAREN GARDINER
Published June 26, 2024 at 10:00 a.m.




Wendake International Pow Wow - COURTESY OF RICHARD GEOFFRION

With sweeping movements that sent their regalia's brightly colored ribbons into the air, a troupe of grass dancers stomped their feet to each urgent beat of a large bass drum. The Wabanaki Confederacy drum group sang and set the pace for the dance, raising the pitch and intensity of their voices as the drumming picked up speed. It was just before noon on a blazing hot June day in western Québec's rural Outaouais region, where the annual Kitigan Zibi Traditional Pow Wow — the first and largest of a province-wide powwow series — was about to begin.

Outside the dance circle, a few hundred spectators unfolded camping chairs; a toddler wearing a buckskin jacket handed out strawberries in celebration of his first powwow dance. A jingle dress dancer's metal cone-adorned regalia tinkled as she rushed to find her place in the lineup.

Then the circle cleared and the crowd went quiet. A new, slower drumbeat began, and everyone stood when the MC announced the Grand Entry, the arrival of all the weekend's dancers. Led by flag bearers, they filed into the circle by the hundreds. I spotted the two head dancers, followed by dancers of different styles: traditional, grass, jingle dress and fancy shawl. They, in turn, were followed by the tiny 6-and-unders, who looked wobbly but determined. Only when everyone was inside the circle could the gathering officially kick off.

In a way, the festivities would last until fall. From June to September, Indigenous people from Québec and beyond follow the Pow Wow Trail across a vast swath of the province — from the Cree community of Eeyou Istchee, on the shores of James Bay, to the Mohawk territory of Akwesasne, which straddles the U.S.-Canada border. A handful are within easy road-tripping distance of Burlington. Of the 21 powwows that comprise the trail, no two are exactly alike. Some are competition powwows, in which dancers compete for cash prizes. Others, like Kitigan Zibi's, are billed as traditional, with a focus on social dancing.

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