M’CHIGEENG—The powwow grounds in M’Chigeeng were buzzing with excitement as hundreds of students, community members and visitors took part in Kenjgewin Teg’s annual Fall Harvest Days.
Booths and displays across the grounds offered up experiences, many of which were hands-on, that highlight aspects of Indigenous knowledge, culture and traditions—and food, lots and lots of delicious food. One of the most popular of the food booths was the UCCM Tribal Police fish fry offering up fresh fish and chips, but from corn soup to scone, from berries to apple cake, there was something for everyone’s taste buds on offer.
Anishinabek Nation Lake Huron Regional Chief Scott McLeod dropped by for a visit and found himself duly impressed.
“This is an amazing event,” he said. “You can just see from the amount of youth who are here and engaged with the booths. There is a lot of educational aspects of this, but I think the biggest one is the community spirit and just the sense of community you have when you come here. There is nothing but smiles on everyone’s faces sharing knowledge and the things they are experts in, whether it is fish fry or canning tomatoes or harvesting animals, it is all educational and part of our culture and an opportunity to share.”
Regional Chief McLeod admitted to being “voluntold” to take part in the moose calling contest where he combined humour with a very credible imitation of a female moose calling for a mate.
Members of Indigenous Tourism Ontario were on hand, along with many departments of Kenjgewin Teg, including the skilled trades who brought along a wide range of tools and equipment utilized in the trades.
Although the weather had been slated to be somewhat damp, it instead proved to be just about as perfect a fall day as could be asked for, combining good food, education and plenty of smiles and laughter, along with a definite sense of pride in Anshinaabe culture, traditions and language.
