The Heart of the Youth Pow Wow has been an annual tradition in Prince Albert since 2018.
On Friday, the organizers hosted a Sponsorship Appreciation Lunch to recognize their organizations and volunteers who support the event, which packs Kinsmen Park each May.
The pow wow is an inclusive gathering that provides youth in Prince Albert and the surrounding communities with an opportunity to engage in the powwow tradition without the pressures of competition.
Elder Liz Settee of the organizing committee said the event was simply a nice way to pay tribute to their numerous sponsors.
“Prince Albert is comprised of a very high percentage of Indigenous people, and we’ve not had a place where the community can really come together to celebrate our young ones that are just learning dancing or drumming,” Settee said. “To be able to showcase them and honour them and have the community watch and participate is extremely huge and the youth love it.”
Settee said she remembered the first year after leaving the pipe ceremony as the busses began to pull in and the energy that she felt.
“It goes a long way to reconciliation,” she said. “(It’s) bringing people together, sharing cultures, having people ask questions.”
Settee said the Heart of the Youth was created to be an inclusive event. They have now removed gender identifiers from dances, so they were simply shawl, traditional, Jingle or any other type of dance. Settee said this was because everyone is welcome in the circle and has gifts and talents.
Organizers estimated the 2024 event had around 5,000 people in attendance. Schools from Prince Albert and area attend the event each year.
Former committee member Delphine Melchert was recognized at the lunch for her contributions after stepping away before the 2024 event. Melchert said the idea for a youth pow wow started after community schools in the West Flat stopped hosting theirs.
Settee was approached by Nicole Rancourt about starting a youth pow wow, so Settee put together the committee and asked Melchert to be a part of it.
“Who says no to Liz,” Melchert said. “It grew from there. It’s an opportunity to showcase our youth (and) an opportunity for the community to recognize that we are only as healthy as a community as our youth are.”
The first pow wow in 2018 was funded through a community grant for healthy communities. However, Melchert said local community groups and businesses have stepped forward to help fund it since then.
Settee said they do not necessarily have to have the Sponsor Appreciation Luncheon but they want to show their gratitude for the people and organizations who make the event possible.
“It saves us writing grants,” Settee said. “It’s a community pow wow, so to have different sponsors from different businesses and organizations contribute, it also makes them feel like they’re part of the pow wow. We like to celebrate them and thank them and sit down and maybe get to know them a little bit better.”
“The day of the powwow is so frantic there’s not an opportunity (to thank them),” Melchert added. “It’s hectic so there is not an opportunity to give them their due appreciation. This day offers us the opportunity to do that.”
Both the Saskatchewan Rivers School Division and Prince Albert Catholic School Division support the event through sponsorship and sending all of their schools to the event.
Melchert said that the organizers were excited by the opportunity for youth to have something to practice for and be showcased.
“We looked and said, ‘which schools have drum groups and which schools have dance groups?’ It’s really encouraged those groups to form so that the youth are going to have an opportunity to perform in front of the whole community. It’s also an opportunity for other youth to see those young people who are dancing and drumming as role models.
“It’s a complete circle,” she added.
The event continues to exceed the committee’s expectations.
“We didn’t anticipate though that we would have daycare centers attending, (and) senior’s homes,” Melchert said.
The week has been declared Community Pow Wow Week and the day has been declared Community Pow Wow Day by the City of Prince Albert.
“The very first one we presented and said we’d like it to (run in) Kinsmen Park because it’s at the heart of the city and it was only fitting for the Heart of the Youth Pow Wow,” Settee said.
“We also included youth in our organizing committee so that they can learn how to organize the powwow, and we’re so thrilled that this has happened. The youth have stepped forward, and Liz and I are now stepping back,” Melchert said.
Settee helped organize the 2024 pow wow, but will step back in 2025.
“(I’m) just very proud of Delphine for her contributions and Nicole for planting the seed and getting it done. Our youth are our future generation and we need them to be healthy,” Settee said.
Settee encouraged everyone to return to Kinsmen Park for the next Heart of the Youth Community Pow Wow, which is scheduled for Friday, May 30, 2025. Both Melchert and Settee said that it was important to note that the City of Prince Albert is a strong supporter.
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