The sound of ceremonial drums and songs carried through the Tk’emlups te Secwepemc Powwow Arbour June 26 to 28 during Kamloopa Powwow as thousands filled the grounds for the three-day gathering.
For many, the event was focused on uniting in Tk̓emlúps te Secwépemc, a place people travel back to year after year to reconnect with culture, kinship and community across distance.
For some families, the significance of the gathering also sits against a broader history of colonial systems that sought to separate children from their families and disrupt cultural continuity, making spaces of cultural gathering and reclamation especially meaningful today.
The idea of return took shape in distinct ways across the grounds this season. For some, it came through craft and commerce, for others through the passing on of knowledge and for others still through dance and movement.
An Ojibwe and Cree Vancouver vendor brings cedar trees to share at Kamloopa Powwow
The Ivory Kraken Company returned to the Kamloopa Powwow for the second consecutive year this summer, expanding the products being offered.
In addition to handmade earrings, artwork and fashion pieces that many attendees remembered from last year, the Ojibwe and Cree artist Corine Bolduc from Eabamtoong First Nation, introduced art supplies and natural materials, including animal skulls, fossils, animal hides and furs.
Art supplies recently became a part of the Ivory Kraken Company organically after noticing a gap for many customers.
“A lot of people want to practice these things but don’t know where to get them or how,” Bolduc said.
While she never set out to be a supply store, it ended up being a very successful segment of her business.
“I like to think that you set out with one thing you’re going to do, and life just decides, ‘no,’” she joked.
Many of the products she sells are rooted in nature in spite of the switch.
“My ma says I’m kind of like the SPCA because I’m always scavenging or collecting something,” Bolduc said with a chuckle.
Her eye for locating and repurposing natural materials has helped shape her business.
Procurement skills that she’s acquired ultimately paid off this year, when she was asked to support Vancouver’s annual Indigenous fashion week, to coordinate the event with many of its designers.
“It’s full circle,” she explained. “We take all of these things from the land, so it’s nice to give back in this way.”
This summer, giving back took a literal form during the Kamloopa Powwow where Bolduc gave away cedar trees on a first-come, first-served basis after receiving 440 seedlings from the Fraser River Indigenous Society as a gift before the event.
Returning to the Kamloopa Powwow was personally meaningful for Bolduc.
“The Kamloopa Powwow? It’s a vibe,” she said. “It’s maximum. It’s right in the centre of B.C., too.”
Although she’s now based in Vancouver, Bolduc spent part of her childhood in Penticton and remembers annual family road trips through the Interior with pride.
“It was in this climate that my mom and grandmother taught me the traditional arts,” Bolduc said, recalling how every childhood summer included a road trip from Prince George to Kamloops. “My heart is in the Interior.”
Bolduc has recently begun making her own regalia with aspirations to perform in the future.
“One day I hope to dance in this powwow, I really do,” Bolduc said, noting her regalia wasn’t finished yet.
A nearby family shares traditional fishing net-making at the powwow for the first time
Although the Sylvain family has attended Kamloopa Powwow for years, this summer marked their first time exhibiting handcrafted traditional dip fishing nets and demonstrating the knowledge behind them.
Jason Sylvain builds each hoop and pole over the course of three-to-four days, while Lorrinda weaves every net, a process that takes up to 14 hours.
Preparing the family’s booth this year extended beyond the fishing nets. Lorrinda estimated it took another five hours to boil and can sockeye salmon to accompany the nets that visitors could view and purchase from their table, while learning about traditional fishing practices in the St’át’imc territory.
As the powwow reached its midpoint, they had already received about a dozen custom orders. But Lorrinda said the conversations were just as rewarding as the sales.
She was pleasantly surprised that lots of schools stopped by their family’s booth with questions and expressed a desire to display their products for students in the coming school year, as well as to share the cultural teachings throughout the traditional territory.
The poles on display were made of white birch and intentionally kept very long because the St’át’imc territory near Bridge River has really steep rocks to access the water, which required long poles to successfully yield a catch.
“We can make custom rods with shorter poles,” Lorinda said about other areas and remarked that the wooden pole materials may be modified in future designs.
For her mother, Jacqueline Fenton-Billy, sharing the knowledge with a new generation was just as rewarding as introducing it to the powwow community.
“This is just the beginning,” Fenton-Billy told The Wren. “I wasn’t sure what I was getting myself into when we started.”
She said working alongside her daughter brought back memories of learning the practice from her own father.
“It brings back memories of my dad,” Fenton-Billy said.
Those interested in ordering can contact the family by phone at 250-299-7123.
A dancer from Washington returns to the arena at Kamloopa Powwow
Thirteen-year-old Nikiyah Longee performed the butterfly dance at this year’s Kamloopa Powwow.
“This dance is about the butterfly,” she explained. “You spin a lot and it’s really fast. You move your feet.”
She travelled to Secwepemcúl̓ecw from Wapato, Washington to reconnect with family members from all over the United States of America. Longee competed in the teen girls’ fancy dance category on Saturday, June 27.
“I chose the butterfly dance because I like to spin a lot,” Longee said with a smile after competing. “I think it went pretty good, but one of my earrings fell out. That’s OK — I just kept dancing.”
For Longee, the weekend wasn’t only about competition. It was also a chance to reconnect with friends and family she doesn’t often see.
“The vibes are really good,” she said about the Kamloopa Powwow. “And all my family is here, so it’s good to see family.”
But her favourite part of the weekend, she said, is the intertribals.
“I like to hear all of the drums,” she said.
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