The second annual Durham College Mini Powwow brought the campus community together in Oshawa on September 30 for Orange Shirt Day and the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
The First Peoples Indigenous Centre hosted the gathering to honour residential-school survivors, their families and communities, and the children who did not return home.
Prayer, sacred fire and teachings
Elder Dorothy Taylor of Curve Lake First Nation opened with a prayer. Susan Byrne of the Bawaajigewin Aboriginal Community Circle shared reflections and teachings.
Firekeeper and three-time college graduate Ronald Leaman led a sacred-fire lighting. The program also included drumming, dancing and teachings from the High Tide Singers, Head Dancer Brooke Wheeler and college representatives.
Events took place in the Naanaagide’endamowin “The Art of Thinking” Courtyard and inside the First Peoples Indigenous Centre. Afternoon activities included crafts, fireside conversations, vendors and a plant-teachings workshop.
The library has prepared learning materials, and free online modules cover Indigenous histories and reconciliation. The Durham College Mini Powwow is now in its second year.
