THUNDER BAY - As the drums beat, the dancers adorned with traditional regalia moved in a circle, with some pausing to dance in front of the photos of seven Indigenous youth who have died in the city of Thunder Bay.
Those pictured included Jethro Anderson, Curran Strang, Paul Panacheese, Robyn Harper, Reggie Bushie, Kyle Morriseau, and Jordan Wabasse, who all died while attending school in Thunder Bay between 2000 and 2011.
On Saturday, Marten Falls First Nation hosted a powwow to honour the seven youth as well as other Indigenous youth who have died or gone missing.
“We wanted to honour our Indigenous youth who have gone missing and have a celebration with our people and our membership and anyone who wanted to come out and have a celebration with this honouring ceremony,” said Marten Falls chief, Bruce Achneepineskum.
The Canadian Lakehead Exhibition Coliseum was full of people, young and old, dancing to the drum circle’s songs of remembrance and healing. And while it was a somber atmosphere at times as Achneepineskum called for a moment of silence to remember the youth who have been lost, the powwow was also about building a stronger sense of community.
“Coming to these powwows, it changes you,” said Kurt Meeseetawageesic, a drummer with the Red Spirit Eagle drum circle. “You become as one. We are all here together and we are all as one. It brings out the best in you.”
“There is a lot of sadness and the grieving,” Meeseetawageesic added. “It brings out everything, which is a positive thing for anybody.”
Meeseetawageesic has been drumming since he was 15-years-old and now 25 years later, he continues to mentor Indigenous youth around the drum circle.
“It’s been really good for me, teaching these kids who came to me,” he said. “They were just little boys when they came and now they are all young men. It meant a lot for them to come to me and ask them to teach them. I never turned them down or said anything bad to them.”
And that is the message Achneepineskum hopes people will take away from the powwow, that the youth are not forgotten and hold a special place in the community.
“This is a celebration of life,” he said. “It is also a message to the youth that we don’t forget them and the things that we do, moving forward, working in the political arena or any other work we do as adults. We work for our youth, for their future.”
Seeing so many people out dancing and supporting the Marten Falls community shows that the youth are not forgotten, Achneepineskum said, and he was very pleased by the show of support.
“It just goes to show that people have these youth who have went missing in the back of their minds and more has to be done for our youth in the upcoming years so they may be successful in their futures,” he said.
Achneepineskum added that it can still be a challenge for youth who are required to travel from remote communities to Thunder Bay for school, but things are improving.
“A lot of the times the parents now leave with the children and get funding to go and support their students in an education that is needed,” he said. “It’s becoming better, the policies are starting to improve, but we have a little ways to go.”
“We really need to work together for our youth so that they may achieve great things in the near future.”
