People around these parts should be proud of Ascension Harjo. The teenager is a Mohawk from Six Nations, about an hour and a touch south of Guelph. And he is the world teen hoop dancing champion.
Wednesday night, a lot of new people got to see what Harjo can do with a set of five hoops and a dancing vibe that has run through him since he was a small boy. A crowd of several hundred, maybe as many as 1,000, circled round to watch him transform his hoops into a globe, a cowboy’s horse, and wings to soar on, during Aboriginal Day celebrations in Market Square. It was hot, it was sunny, it was joyous.
The event had pounding drums that lifted the spirits, prayers in Indigenous languages intended to heal wounds and the world, lessons in Aboriginal culture, and admonishments to learn more, act more, and be more at one. Neither heavy nor solemn, the event was full of fun and awe.
“I guess that was a pretty big accomplishment,” young Mr. Harjo said in an interview, speaking of his big win at a world hoop dancing championship in Arizona. And when he danced for the crowd it was clear why he rose to the top. The crowd was dazzled.
“This is a really good event,” he said. “It is a great way to bring people together, to share our culture, and for others to learn.”
Jan Sherman told an introductory story to start the celebration. It was her hope that such a gathering would allow those in attendance to meet as many people as possible.
“Why am I here, what am I celebrating?” she said. “I’m celebrating the opportunity to do something different over the next 150 years.”
She encouraged all to study the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s many calls to action.
“Find yourself in it and do something,” she said.
Jennifer Parkinson, a Métis, said her people were no longer in hiding, and Aboriginal Day is an opportunity to celebrate that fact and share the unique culture and heritage of all Aboriginal people.
Métis culture and heritage was center stage, as Métis jig-dancers and a Métis fiddler performed.
In his remarks, Guelph Mayor Cam Guthrie asked the crowd how many among them had learned something about Aboriginal Day in the time they had been at the event. A great many put up a hand.
He said that such learning has a strong impact on our community, and he urged everyone to continue to learn more, and to find ways to implement the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s calls to action. Guthrie then read out the land acknowledgement that is now part of every council meeting, which pays special attention and respect to the original inhabitants of the land.
The city is continuously looking for new ways to respect Aboriginal people, he said.
