Spring celebration activity day at native centre a huge success

The Niagara Regional Native Centre’s recent Kenkwite’:ne celebration of spring brought together the community in an all-ages sharing of traditional Indigenous teachings, practises and activities. 

“It was an attempt to get in touch with everyone’s inner baby child,” says Veronica Orozco, coordinator of the regional centre’s Community Action Program for Children, “to really hone in on that little spirit that sits within all of us. We wanted to have fun and engage in the outdoors and connect to nature.”

To that end, Orozco (Abinoonjii, Ojibway) and others at the centre organized a full day of activities that participants rotated through, including learning to create a friction fire, an archery station, hearing the creation story from an Indigenous elder, gardening, arts and crafts, and a group hand drill session.  

The day began at dawn with a sunrise ceremony, led by Roger Jacklin, who tended the sacred fire throughout the day. 

“We brought in some Indigenous knowledge keepers to share traditional teachings,” says Orozco. “We asked them to speak to this aspect of Kenkwite’:ne, which is spring. We had one of our grandmothers, who is Cree, share her story.”

The gardening station included a chance for the kids to get their hands dirty in the soil, while the painting station focused on decorating aprons and rocks along the Kenkwite’:ne theme. 

“We also had a friction fire hand drill station,” says Orozco, “which was kind of a tug’o’war style to get the fire started. It brought all the ages together to collaborate to get it going.”

A big hit for the day was the archery station, run by Kirstyn Smith, the Niagara-on-the-Lake proprietor of Red Tail Adventures, formerly Sigma Archery.

“We were so excited to collaborate with a local company,” says Orozco. “Her archery station was a real highlight of the event.”

“Veronica reached out and invited me to the event,” says Smith. “Someone else dropped out, and she stumbled upon my company. I was so excited to get involved.”

Smith’s archery fascination began a few years ago with her exposure to the Disney animated film Brave. She has even learned how to shoot arrows from horseback as the character Merida does in the 2012 film. 

There was no horseback riding during the Kenkwite’:ne event, but Smith did set up four homemade targets and led participants through the proper way to release their arrows. Many of the kids tried to circle back to the archery station for another go at the skill. 

“My main expression with my company,” Smith says, “is I want people to re-wild themselves, to get back to their roots. All of this, archery, gardening, making fire, it all comes down to what we did before society took a different direction. Learning self-sustainability and getting comfortable in the outdoors is really important.”

That focus makes Smith a great partner for Orozco, who was the driver behind the entire day’s event. 

“These land-based activities are so important to the survival of our culture,” she says. “We are an urban Indigenous community centre, but unlike others we are gifted with the amount of land we have here. We can do so many outdoor activities here. We have to take advantage of that here.”

With the Native Centre’s summer camp coming up soon, Orozco is hoping that Smith can be a big part of it. And Jacklin hopes to see her back at the Native Centre as well. 

“Things are going to grow from this event,” the Ojibway elder tells The Local. “It is such a fulfilling partnership. It will grow greatly, naturally.”

The spring celebration was Smith’s first attempt to bring archery to an event, rather than have participants come to her friend’s farm in St. Catharines where she usually offers her instruction. 

“I hand-created my own targets to bring out here today,” she says. “We did a site visit first, mapping out where we would set up, with safety at the top of mind right from the start. And Roger was an ace with the arrow, by the way.”

Jacklin in turn said he was impressed with Smith’s open and honest character, as well as her willingness to share her knowledge with all of the participants. 

As Orozco is planning to make Kenkwite’:ne an annual event, she hopes Smith can return for future archery sessions. And, as the young sharpshooter is planning to offer other back-to-the-wild activities through Red Tail soon, there may be other opportunities for collaboration.

“The issue these days is all about disconnection,” Orozco laments. “Kenkwite’:ne was all about
cultivating our relationship with that spirit. We have to reconnect our people with healthy activities that are full of balance physically, spiritually and emotionally.”