Chippewas of the Thames First Nation held the Gawii Wiikaa Ga-Nendimisii (Never Ever Forget Me) Music and Artisan Festival at the Western Fair District last weekend.
“We’re hoping that the festival will be a celebration of indigenous music, art, and culture in honor of our residential school survivors, as well as those children who never made it home,” said Shadia Ali, Communications Officer of the Chippewas of the Thames First Nation.
“It is our hope that in attending the festival, people will learn more about Mount Elgin residential school,” she said. “And in doing so, never forget that every child matters.”
The event had around fifty indigenous vendors selling crafts and goods made in the traditional indigenous sense like bead work, leather work, and embroidery.
Information vendors and indigenous food vendors were also included in the festival.
“We are sharing our indigenous culture through our art and our food and our information,” Ali said.
The music component of the festival is evolved from indigenous music. Ali said the music is a fusion of traditional Paolo music with electronic music.
“Mount Elgin residential school is always in the back of our minds. The injustices that happen to our children, and the colonization,” Ali said. “We want to have that at the forefront of the people’s minds… we want them to come out and to learn more about it, and bring learnings away from them.”
The proceeds of the festival goes towards turning the house barn from Mount Elgin residential school to create a Mount Elgin Museum and Interpretative Center.
