WIIKWEMKOONG—The annual Wiikwemkoong Cultural Festival (popularly known as the Wiiky Powwow) will kick off on Friday, August 2 with the seventh annual Wiikwemkoong Art and Music Festival (WAMF) featured on Pages 20 and 21 of this edition of The Expositor with the traditional events starting up on Saturday, with the crowning of Miss Wiikwemkoong at 10 am (Little Miss, Lil Brave and Junior Miss competitions take place 10 am on Sunday).
Wiikwemkoong Tourism will be launching its new WAMF logo at 11:30 am, followed by the grand entry at noon.
The following days will be filled with some of the most amazing dancers to be found on the powwow trail. The Wiikwemkoong Cultural Festival has a competition powwow at its heart and through to Monday, the best of the best will be competing for top honours. But not to worry, there will be plenty of intertribal songs going out to get your powwow on.
Many of the dances are held in honour of local accomplishments or in memory of individuals in the community, such as Wilfred A Trudeau-baa Men’s Traditional Special or the Kara Kennedy Call to the Bar Jingle Special, the Crystal ‘Angel’ Recollet-baa Memorial Special and the Waaweyeseh-baa Memorial Special (Men’s Traditional).
As a competition powwow, the prizes are one of the draws, and in that department the Wiikwemkoong Cultural Festival is no slouch. Drum competition first prize is a cool $12,000 while the dance categories run from $1,200 first prizes for the adult divisions to $500 first prizes for the teens and $300 for the youth aged seven to 12.
Masters of ceremony duties for this year’s festival are shared between Wiikwemkoong’s own Allan Manitowabi and Jason Whitehouse of Michigan and former Ogimaa Duke Peltier.
Although the Wiikwemkoong Cultural Festival takes place in Wiikwemkoong, the talent, judges and other dignitaries hail from other communities. At this year’s festival head veterans are Jan Richie (Saugeen), arena director Cheyenne Kitchikake (Wiikwemkoong), head drum judge Joseph Syrette (Batchewana), head male dancer Jordan White Eye (Bkwejwanong Territory), head female dancer is Ann Marie Proulx-White (Neyaashiinigming and Eneida), smoke dance singer Regis Cook (Onondaga, New York) and head elders Gerry Kaboni and Linda Kaboni of Wiikwemkoong).
Host drum will be Bear Creek.
In addition to the songs and dances, a cultural pavilion will include workshops, a fashion show, beading showcase, cross-cultural performances and Indigenous culinary presentations. On both Saturday and Sunday, the Wiikwemkoong Art Show, hosted by community artists, starts up at 10 am each day, closing at 7 pm. One Wiky PW mens traditional of the many cultural performances will be Metis fiddle music at 5:30 pm on Sunday.
There will be plenty of great powwow food on hand and one of the largest gatherings of Indigenous artisan, arts and crafts vendors to be found anywhere in this region of Turtle Island.
Adult daily admission is $15, with a weekend pass at $30, children are $5 daily (under six free) and elders 65-plus are also admitted free of charge. More information can be found at wiktours.com.
