By noon, hundreds of members of Indigenous communities from across the region had made their way to the main stage and made themselves at home. Canadians of all stripes were also there to take in the day.

Yancey Thusky was the main organizer of the dancing and drumming demonstration that opened the day. Thusky is no stranger to Shawville, having spent several years playing for the Pontiacs in the late 2000s.

Thusky has been involved in drumming and dancing for 10 years and said there are many different reasons to sing. “We tend to sing to celebrate, to honour, but we also sing for different reasons; we’ll sing to grieve when we lose people.”

It is the responsibility of singers to learn the ways and reasons why they sing, he added. There are different reasons and different songs.

For the day, Thusky said, there would be an opening song that is also an honour song to acknowledge why they have come to the Fair.

“I think the day itself is just a recognition of the kids that didn’t make it home. But also, it’s a recognition that we are still here,” he said.

“We want people to acknowledge and know the history of what happened.”

Thusky also noted that it was a day of celebration and cultural exchange. The second part involved singing and different demonstrations of Algonquin dance styles.

The drummers and singers were Rene Racine of Kitigan Zibi, Nikan Bellemare of Wemotaci, Keith Flamand of Manawan, Jordan Jacko of Kitigan Zibi and Yancey Thusky of Kitigan Zibi.

Before the demonstration, there was a prayer in the Algonquin language.

During the dance demonstration, Emcee Greg Dreaver of Metawasis, Sask., Treaty 6 Territory, spun tales, cracked jokes and explained the meaning of the dances.

“To hear this Algonquin drum today, it takes us all back to our mothers. When we were inside our mothers, when we heard that first heartbeat, that first drum,” Dreaver said.

Later, in an interview with The Equity, Dreaver discussed what he called a “crooked peace.”

“There was no such word for war in our language before the settlers came. You could only describe a conflict as a crooked peace that needs to be straightened and today, we see that happening here with responsibility.

No guilt, no shame. Face responsibility, take responsibility, let’s put something out that everybody can participate in for the betterment of all. Let’s let the Native leadership come out and have their say and let them speak, and they were given that. Here’s the stage; take it away. More has to be done, but it was done here today in Shawville,” he said.

Algonquin Anishinabeg Nation Grand Chief John Boudrias said members in the community started building an interest online, drawing names to perform and trying to influence the organizing committee. This attracted the attention of the organizing committee, who then reached out to Boudrias, who put everything together.

In an interview with The Equity, Boudrias said there were mixed feelings in the community. “One was ‘finally’; the Shawville Fair has existed for [165-years], and saying, oh, ‘finally, we are invited to be included.’ But I don’t see it as finally; I see it as an [indication] that people are paying attention now. Reconciliation for the last 10 years has been a word. There’s not been any kind of real concrete action,” he said.

For much of the day, after the drumming and dancing, Boudrias was up on stage playing with the Fort George Rockers and other Indigenous music artists like Eddie Cote and Anthony Brascoupe.

“The timing of [the Fair] extending this friendship branch couldn’t be better because our people, the Algonquin people, were extremely wounded by the news over the last few months.”

Boudrias pointed to the crowd and said, “Most of the people in the first three rows, they all went to residential schools, every one of them,” so the past months have hit them really hard. But “this afternoon, that was furthest from their minds. They were sitting there being proud, watching an Algonquin performance in the Shawville Fair. They were proud just to be here, on Algonquin territory, amongst everybody else.”

Boudrias said the victims of residential schools would often use joy and humour to maintain their sanity. “It is an inherent part of our culture, too. We have to find a humourous break.” Community members will often joke around amongst themselves. “That’s that break from the pain in knowing some of these kids went through torture,” he said.

“If you come to one of our funerals, you will often find there is a lot of laughter. People will wonder, ‘why is there so much laughter?’ And it’s because we need to, we need to express humour to give our spirits a break from what’s really going on around us,” he added.

Boudrias said he appreciates past efforts by different levels of government, acknowledging we are living in their Algonquin territory. But he believes we have to go further than an acknowledgement. “Today was further than an acknowledgement,” he said, referring to the Fair’s Indigenous day. “Today was a real demonstration of being included and we can really create a positive stir among both peoples.”

Before the end of his set, Boudrias said the Fair reached out and confirmed Indigenous participation in next year’s Fair. “It shows that we are really onto something,” he said. “This is a rebirth of a relationship.”

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