(June 23 - 24, 2018)
Métis Heritage Celebration is an annual gathering in Oshawa, Ontario, a city situated on the north shore of Lake Ontario. The event is organized by the Oshawa and Durham Region Métis Council, a local of Métis Nation Ontario that was chartered in 2004.
The first Métis Heritage Celebration was held at the Brooklin Community Centre, in Whitby, Ontario (a city immediately west of Oshawa). The day-long event featured a drum circle (the Shwa Singers), two members of Métis Fiddler Quartet, fiddler Alicia Blore, fiddler and luthier Ruth Wagner, local elder, knowledge keeper and storyteller, Joe Paquette, and Ojibwe fiddler Laurence “Teddy Boy” Houle. The event also included Lacrosse demonstrations, jigging lessons, a jigging competition, a one-person theatrical piece about Marguerite Riel (Louis Riel’s wife), cultural displays, and vendors.
The following year (2008), the Celebration was moved to Oshawa’s Memorial Park and became a two-day, outdoor celebration. Over the next few years, the Métis council connected with Métis musicians, dancers, and event organizers from western Canada, where such events are more commonplace. Jigger and contemporary dancer Yvonne Chartrand (who is Métis from Manitoba, but lives in Vancouver) was invited to teach a dance workshop, leading to the creation the Olivine Bousquet dancers who performed at the Celebration in the years that followed. Métis fiddler JJ Lavallee was also invited to Oshawa by the Council in an effort to revitalize fiddling. The fiddle group that grew out of the original group taught by Lavallee—now known as the Gravel Road Fiddlers—began performing at the Heritage Celebration in 2011 and have performed every year since. Métis event organizer Dan Goodon was also invited, bringing out a Red River cart which is now part of the Celebration's cultural displays.
Although I was unable to attend in 2018, I have wonderful memories of the event from 2015, 2016, and 2017. One of my favourite memories was of the first year, when the second day of the event was cancelled due to torrential rains that had collapsed some of the vendor's tents. This might seem like a disaster, but organizers and performers joined together under one of the larger, remaining tents, to chat, listen to music, and dance across the muddy earth. It was one of those impromptu moments that makes cultural events not just performances but an embodiment of community sharing and spirit.
Below are a few photos that I took in 2016.
Train ride from Kingston to Oshawa, with view of beautiful Lake Ontario
Memorial Park, Oshawa, Ontario, where the annual event has been held since 2008
Traditional Métis embroidery and bead work on display
Impromptu jigging, Auriele Diotte (front) with members of the MNO's Summer Youth Cultural Program (wearing strap dresses) and audience members
Teaching traditional Métis dances to attendees.
Audience at the outdoor event, with Red River Cart and Métis flag in background
Jam session
All My Relations Métis Drum Circle, led by Cecile Wagar
Street signs advertising the event
For more about this event, including short videos of performances, follow this link.