Ukrainian newcomers welcomed at annual Spring Celebration Powwow in Regina

“You don't have to be Indigenous to powwow. It's completely fine if you aren't.”

This is the message Judy Missens wanted people to know from this year’s Spring Celebration Powwow in Regina.

With so many newcomers in Canada, taking part in a powwow is a powerful experience.

The annual First Nations University Spring Powwow took place at the Brandt Centre from April 22 to 23, and saw people from across Canada in attendance.

“We just want people to recognize who we are, and we want to move forward. We don't want to forget the past, but we want to be able to move forward and come together collectively as people," Missens added.

That is the feeling many new to the tradition learned.

"I was chatting with a lot of First Nations people in the regalia, and we were discussing what it's like all [the] stuff means … and it means a lot, it's all of the history," Andrian Makhnachov, a Ukrainian newcomer to Saskatchewan, explained.

"This community, like First Nations, they are like a big family, and I feel like I'm a part of this family."

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Traditionally, that’s what a powwow aims to do.

Teach, include and ultimately rejoice in the heritage of First Nations people and communities.

Spring represents new life and having new people join the powwow this year encompasses matches that sentiment.

Elizabeth Steadman brought her friend, Jeanne Boehnart, to the ceremony so they could learn and understand more about the tradition.

"We were very much listening to what Liz had to say, and experience explained to me about different costumes, and so on,” Boehnart said.

“So yes, it was a real learning experience for me.”

For Makhnachov, the powwow was an experience he will never forget.

A lesson he hopes to teach to others.

“We share with each other, a lot of important information that means a lot for Canadian history.”