Lanaya Bear says she feels very proud anytime she can engage in activities that promote her culture. The 14-year-old from Whitefish was among dozens of youth participating in Friday’s Heart of the Youth Powwow at Prince Albert’s Kinsmen Park. Over 4,000 people, many of which students from local schools, attended the day long event.
Bear explained the event is important because youth represent our future leaders. “So they should take as much as they can from the adults right now so they can carry on the messages for many generations,” she said. Keyshanna Ballantyne, 11, from Sturgeon Lake First Nation, said the event is fun.
“I’m proud of my culture and I like dancing,” she commented. The Heart of the Youth Powwow was started in 2017 and committee member Liz Settee, who was also celebrating her own birthday on Friday, has been involved since day one. “It’s so exciting because the youth are so excited about it and they bring such beautiful energy,” she said.
Settee added the event represents an opportunity for not just the youth in the schools to come together, but the entire community as a whole. “We have got so many youth who are practicing dance at school but they’ve got no place to showcase it. They don’t feel they are ready for competitions or anything like that and so this is a place where they can go go and practice what they are doing and show other people what they’re learning,” she said.
Nicole Matheis is another committee member and work.
