Indigenous chefs serve up traditional fare at Conestoga College annual powwow

Amid beating drums, representing Mother Earth's heartbeat, and people dressed in traditional garments, like the iconic long ribbon skirts reaching to absorb earth's energy, aromas of food wafted through the field house of Conestoga College's Student Recreation Centre last weekend.

The 13th annual powwow drew thousands of visitors to celebrate Indigenous culture, said Christina Restoule, co-ordinator of Indigenous Services at the Doon Campus. 

"Be-Dah-Bin Gamik," which translates to "place of new beginnings," provides services to the College's Indigenous students, including status and non-status First Nations, Métis and Inuit.

"2020 was our last in-person powwow. The last two years were virtual, but that can't capture the energy of the live event. This year, we were happy that about 5,000 people came through our doors," she said.

Passing the sacred fire burning in a brazier in an open area just outside the recreation centre, visitors wandered among artwork, crafts, vendors' booths and children's activities, and nursing centres, while traditional singing and dancing took place around them.

"We had drummers and dancers from far and wide," Restoule said, noting the broad geographic reach the event had.

In any celebration — and in any culture — food plays a key role.

At the powwow, chefs Destiny Moser of Cedar Spoon Indigenous Catering and Sydney Keedwell of White Owl Native Ancestry Association collaborated to create Aandanjige Café, which translates roughly to "way of eating" in Ojibwe.

Other food vendors included Nancy Laughing-Papineau, owner of Eleven Eighty Catering, and Rick Antone of Two Turtles

They prepared a couple of simple dishes weighted with cultural significance.

"Sydney and I got together and made bison sausage wrapped in bannock and a vegetarian, gluten-free Three Sisters chili," said Moser who was born in Waterloo and is part of the Ojibwe tribe of the Rainy River Band.

In adding onions, tomatoes and peppers to the chili, Moser pointed out how Indigenous culture faced the arrival of European culture.

"That food would have come with the settlers," she said.

Kitchener-born Keedwell explained the ingredients they used came from local producers, including Stevanus Family Farm, Fat Sparrow and Oakridge Acres.