A vibrant display of Indigenous culture at the 2019 Ryerson Pow Wow

On September 20 and 21, the second annual Ryerson Pow Wow took place in the quad. It was a vibrant display of Indigenous art, culture, tradition and teaching.

This year, more than 100 dancers, 85 Indigenous vendors and 2,500+ attendees were welcomed to the space. Student-led and supported campus-wide, this year’s powwow returned to its original space in the Kerr Hall Quad and included an Education Week as a way to extend programming.

In addition to images from the annual Indigenous tradition (shown below), Ryerson Today has a message to share from the Pow Wow organizers:

“The RU Pow Wow Committee wanted to take the time to thank all of the incredible support from across the university and the larger Tkaronto community. We were so moved by the breadth and depth of engagement—the Pow Wow was a beautiful collaborative effort, and we’re proud that multiple offices and academic units came together to mobilize several of Ryerson’s  (PDF file) Truth and Reconciliation goals.

Thank you to:

Elder Pauline Shirt for leading our Sunrise Ceremony;

Damien Lee, John Moore and Geoff Daybutch for being our Sacred Fire Keepers and for all of your hard work;

Konrad Skorupa from the City of Toronto’s Indigenous Arts & Culture Partnerships Fund;

Victoria Anderson-Gardner from the Ryerson Students’ Union and Good Food Room for supporting our Saturday barbecue;

Vincenzo Carinci, Mary Jane Pacheco and the entire Ryerson Finance team for your dedication and innovative support;

Maria Lupoi and the Ryerson Library team as well as Curtis Maloley and Sarena Johnson and the Education Committee for your incredible contributions to Education Week;

Amanda Cohen and Yovana Ceha from Ryerson Athletics for your leadership and coordination support;

Winnie Ho and all of the faculty and staff who have been offering their support since early January to plan the 2019 Ryerson Pow Wow;

Ryerson Security, Facilities Management and Development, RU Eats and the Ryerson Urban Farm for your collaboration;

Charles Falzon, Marnie Gilbert, Dan Greenwood, Marie Crosta, Lila Pine and the Faculty of Community and Design team for your relentless support and tireless work;

The School of Graduate Studies for the Indigenous Graduate Student Circle;

Panellists from the Treaty Education Panel and the Indigenous Healing Panel;

The Gardiner Museum for their tour of their Cannupa Hanska Luger exhibit which honours Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women;

Jeremy Caribou for providing a walking tour;

Amanda Cowell for her Medicine Teachings and Cedar Gathering;

The Ryerson chapter of Cinema Politica for our film screening;

Amber Sandy at the SciXchange for facilitating Hide Tanning;

Deanne Hupfield for facilitating our Pow Wow Dance Fitness class;

The School of Fashion,Justine Woods and Anna Romanovska for leading the Beading Circle;

Sana Mulji Dutt and Jessica Griffiths from the Ted Rogers School of Management and our Indigenous Entrepreneurship panellists;

And finally, thank you to all of the staff, faculty and students who dedicated their time and volunteered for the Pow Wow!

The 2020 RU Pow Wow committee will begin meeting in the new year. We’re hoping to continue to grow and build relations with more Ryerson partners. Get in touch with us if you are interested in joining our team or running an event by emailing powwow@torontomu.ca, and be sure to follow us on Twitter and Instagram @RUPowWow.”

Photos by Kaytee Dalton.