Elementary school students got up on their feet to dance today to learn more about Anishinaabe people.
Naokwegijig, also known as Tim McGregor, shared his knowledge about a celebration called jingtamok with Holy Trinity Catholic School students.
He is a traditional Anishinabe Nini dancer and has been involved with jingtamok, sometimes known as powwow, for many decades.
The beat of a drum McGregor referred to as “the heartbeat of our nation.”
“Everybody knows this sound. Everybody. Because for nine months from the time you were conceived, to the time you were born you were carried by your mom and you heard that song all the time,” he said.
The beat moves from your heart to your feet. He taught the audience a dance and they followed him around the room dancing.
On Thursday they learned a bit about history, geography, language and dance through McGregor who is from Wiigwasskiniga (Whitefish River First Nation).
He dances all the time. He’ll dance to any genre of music whether it's rock, reggae or country.
“Sometimes I don't even need regalia on. I’ll just practice because it moves your feet,” said McGregor.
During his talk with students he gave Guelph a new name, gizhigo kaaning, meaning place of cedar. When McGregor was driving he noticed how many cedar trees there were around the city and thought the name was a bit more fitting than Guelph.
His presentations were adapted based on what age groups he was speaking to. He presented to grades 4 through 6. Since the younger students' attention spans tend to be shorter he gets right into showing them regalia.
He showed students how he puts his head piece together. It is made from porcupine hair, fur from a deer, and feathers from an eagle.
A pair of eagle feathers is the highest honour one can receive. Eagle feathers are significant because when there are smudging ceremonies people make intentions which are guided to the creator and eagles help the intentions get there.
McGregor has the eagle feathers secured to the headpiece because it wouldn’t be good if the feathers flew to the ground. If the feathers fell during a powwow everyone would have to stop. The head veteran of the jingtamok is responsible for picking the feathers up and he does it to a song. McGregor would then have to pay the head veteran, dancers and drummers.
He wouldn’t be able to keep the feathers anymore. “It gives me the honour of giving them away. It will hurt me. It will hurt me so bad,” said McGregor.
Holy Trinity gave McGregor tobacco. Offering tobacco to someone is a sign of respect. At the end of the day he’ll spread the tobacco on the ground outside to put it back to where it came from.
“Remember that history has different viewpoints. Whoever writes your history has their own perspective on history. I have a different perspective on history. My perspective, my people's perspective, that's vastly different from what you learn in the history books,” said McGregor.
He hoped students took away knowledge about who Anishinaabe people are, where they are in Ontario and that they’re still here.
