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Regina school celebrates Indigenous culture

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REGINA -

Prairie Sky School hosted an Indigenous Cultural Arts Festival Thursday afternoon to celebrate and learn about Indigenous culture, art and history.

The school has brought in an Indigenous artisan to teach traditional powwow dances over the past few months

“The kids always ask well what is a powwow? What is the dancing? Or what does the dancing mean? And I was able to come in and share,” said Teddy Bison, an Indigenous artisan.

Bison taught the students how to do a traditional circle dance and the students performed it on Thursday.

“We used a lot of animal movements,” Bison said. “A lot of our dances come from the movement of animals, trying to imitate the movement of animals, so they love that.”

Teddy Bison and his son lead a circle dance with drums (Mackenzie Read/CTV Regina)

Teddy Bison and his son lead a circle dance with drums (Mackenzie Read/CTV Regina)

The school also brought in artists to go over different art techniques.

“I came in to teach many different kinds of cultural art techniques like porcupine quill work, we cleaned fish scales and dyed them, they learned bead work,” said Holly Yuzicapi, a Dakota-Lakota artist.

The festival also featured an exhibition of the student’s artwork and they were able to discuss topics like residential schools and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action.

“This project was more about giving the kids an experience to share their perspective on issues and topics,” Yuzicapi added.

The instructors said this kind of event and education is important, especially at a young age.

“One of the things I hope learning at a young age does is carry that compassion,” Yuzicapi said. “Hopefully experiences like this are the experiences that help them change how they might view things in the future.” 

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