Honouring the Past, Empowering the Future at PDSB’s second annual Powwow

June 5, 2025 · 0 Comments

By Riley Murphy

Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Peel District School Board (PDSB) hosted their second annual powwow last weekend.

The event featured Elders, dancers, drum groups and 50+ vendors at the Maawnjiding Wiigushkeng Centre for Indigenous Excellence and Land-Based Learning.

More than 1,000 students from four different boards attended.

Nicole Reynolds, Acting Coordinating Principal of Indigenous Education PDSB, said the event is a time for Indigenous and non-indigenous people to gather and celebrate Indigenous excellence and joy through dance and songs.

“A lot of what residential schools sought out to do was to erase our songs and our dances and powwows are a great act of reclamation and a chance to celebrate all that we are,” said Reynolds.

Reynolds shared that she was most looking forward to the “Coming Out Special” soon to follow, when new dancers enter the ring.

“Some of our students made their own regalia and they’re going to be able to dance for the first time in the regalia that they made and I’m just really looking forward to see all their hard work come to life and the joy on their faces and just see them celebrate who they are as First Nations, Métis and Inuit kids,” she shared.

During the event, through the sharing of traditional dances, songs, and ceremonies, the celebration of Indigenous culture showcased the youth’s pivotal role in preserving ancestral knowledge and shaping the community’s future as they shared their talents, leadership, and cultural wisdom.

The host drums at the event were Ashunyung and Chippewa Travellers, and the drums could be heard all across the Centre as the event was underway.

Walking through the Maawnjiding Wiigushkeng Centre for Indigenous Excellence and Land-Based Learning, attendees could either take in the traditional dancing and song or stop at one of the various vendors, including beaders, food trucks, natural products, artists, apparel, and educational pavilions.

Amber Clarke was a vendor at the event with her business Ber Bers Creations. She shared that much of what she sold that day was for the Indigenous community.

“I have MMIW stuff, I have Every Child Matters, and just stuff that represents our community and gets our message out there,” shared Clarke. “It’s nice just to be here in the powwow itself, and just have the ancestors here with us, and the vibes and everything, it’s amazing.”

Stan Cameron, Trustee for Caledon Peel District School Board, was in attendance and shared some of the history of the Centre itself.

“The Indigenous Education team had a vision for this Centre and presented this to the Board of Trustees. Because the Centre is in Caledon, I was invited by the team to learn more about the vision and to support the project moving forward. I was happy to support this vision and have been supportive of the Centre’s staff, the program, our students, and school staff in any way I can help,” said Cameron.

“The former Credit View PS community in Caledon is very pleased that their former place of teaching and learning continues to be a place that fosters important, caring change,” said Cameron.

He shared that in 2023, he put a motion on the floor at a Regular Meeting of the Peel District School Board of Trustees asking the Board to increase the number of student Trustees from two to three.

This additional position would be dedicated to an Indigenous student who self-identifies as First Nations, Métis or Inuit.

The motion was seconded by Mississauga Trustee Jeff Clark and unanimously supported by all 12 Board Trustees.

Cameron then went to the Centre’s Coordinating Vice Principal, Nicole Reynolds, to ask if this would be acceptable with the Indigenous community and leaders.

Reynolds explored this question with the community and their Elders. The response was unequivocally “yes.”

Austin Chrisjohn was brought in last year for this position, and is the acting Indigenous student trustee. For Chrisjohn, this also meant carrying the Eagle Staff for the Centre and leading out many of the dancers into the ring that day.

“Today was an emotional role for sure. This is the second time I’ve had the opportunity to carry the Eagle Staff for the Centre, to open up our wonderful powwow. Today was the last time I would be carrying the Eagle Staff as I’m graduating,” shared Chrisjohn. “It’s gone by so fast, and this place means a lot to me, and being able to represent the Centre by carrying the Eagle Staff is just an amazing opportunity.”

Chrisjohn said the day was hard for him, knowing he won’t carry the Eagle Staff next year.

He reflected on how his student trustee experience has impacted his life.

“I’ve been able to create multiple connections with so many people just because I became the student trustee, and it’s pushed my education forward for sure, because I never thought I’d be going to university, and I am going to Algoma University for Anishinaabe Studies.”

In the future, Chrisjohn reflected that there is a lot he will carry forward with him, including the relationships he’s made.

“I don’t really call them my friends; I call them my family, they’re my second family because of how close of a bond that we’ve created.”

Other students shared how much the event impacted them as well.

Simar, Ryka, Agambir, and Gurshan are third and fourth-grade students from Southfields Village Public School, and they shared their favourite part of the day. Their answers included seeing the different types of animal skins, seeing the dancing, and the grand entry itself that the dancers did.

They’re all bringing home something different in terms of what they learned.

“One thing that I learned today is anybody can be who they want to be. Nobody has to tell them who they have to be,” said Simar.

“This is the first time I’ve done an indigenous dance and now I know how to and I will keep it with me,” shared Gurshan.

Jeff Clark, Peel Public School Board trustee for Mississauga Wards 9 and 10, shared how the event impacted him not only as a trustee but on a personal level. Clark said he is part Indigenous, and because he was adopted, he is still on a reconciliation journey for himself.

Growing up in a small town in Nova Scotia, he shared that growing up, he felt he didn’t learn much about Indigenous culture.

“CBC used to have 10 to 15-minute shows in the morning during the weekdays, and it was called Mi’kmaq. That was really the only knowledge about any Indigenous culture or nation that I had for a long time, until after high school,” shared Clark.

Clark said he enjoyed seeing all the students that day express their identities.

“Peel Public School Board were able to get this refurbished and up and running and now we’ve got people learning Anishinaabemowin and the kids make a canoe for a credit, and that’s real useful information,” shared Clark.

“I’m just so happy about it, and it wouldn’t have happened without my colleagues and without the community, and the different Indigenous communities not letting go and continuing to maintain these dances, and the songs.”