Kehewin Cree Nation brings traditional birthing back to community
CBC
For the first time in over 60 years, a baby was born on Kehewin Cree Nation last month thanks to a midwifery program that is the first of its kind in a First Nation in Alberta.
In the early hours of April 5, Maelan Simaganis-Tsatoke started to feel contractions, but she was in Edmonton, far from her home in Kehewin, 240 kilometres east of the city.
She decided to drive nearly three hours back to the First Nation.
"I just knew that I wanted our family there, community," said Simaganis-Tsatoke, who is originally from Poundmaker First Nation in Saskatchewan.
"It was like a dream, honestly, to have that experience."
By the time Simaganis-Tsatoke arrived, a makeshift birthing centre had been set up in a space that was formerly a daycare.
What made this birth different is that it was a traditional birth, incorporating Cree songs, smudging, and a fire burning outside. Kokums — or grandmothers — played a key role.
"Every contraction I had somebody holding me and when they got stronger, my cousin Jada was singing to me," said Simaganis-Tsatoke.
"It just helped ground me and it was just a really beautiful experience. And to have the kokums smudging me, praying for me, I just loved it. It was so beautiful."
After the birth, the boy's name was chosen by the grandmothers.
"His name is Kasohkikapowit, and that means 'he who stands strong,'" said Simaganis-Tsatoke.
"After he was born, the kokums … said he's going to blaze a path for others in the community, so that's how they came up with his name."
Dad Kenneth Gadwa-Stone is from Kehewin, and he grew up attending ceremonies, but a traditional birth was a new experience for him.
"I came in there with [an] open mind because I believe in Creator … and I just knew it was meant to be," said Gadwa-Stone.
