Medicine Hat's Miywasin Days marks Saamis Tepee dance floor reopening
The Miywasin Friendship Centre is combining two Alberta Culture Days events into a single weekend celebration for the first time, drawing more than 30 dancers to the Saamis Tepee.
Medicine Hat is hosting Miywasin Days this weekend, a two-day celebration of Indigenous culture organized by the Miywasin Friendship Centre as part of Alberta Culture Days. The event, held at the Saamis Tepee and Police Point Park, rebrands and combines events the centre has run for about 14 years, with "Miywasin" meaning "it is good" in Cree.
Saturday's program at the Saamis Tepee begins at 1 p.m. with a demonstration powwow and the grand reopening of the site following the Saamis Tepee Dancefloor Resurfacing Project, which replaced the old red shale surface with turf. More than 30 dancers are expected, along with prayers and speeches from elders and representatives of Nekanett First Nation, Kainai Nation and other communities. Executive director Carol Syrette said the resurfacing grew out of a partnership between the City of Medicine Hat and the friendship centre, tied to the city's Truth and Reconciliation Recommendations Committee, which began in 2019.
Sunday's activities move to Police Point Park for a Métis kitchen party starting at 1 p.m., featuring music, jigging, spoon playing and bannock cooked over a fire, with fiddler Daniel Gervais performing.
Both days are free and open to the public. Organizers ask attendees to bring lawn chairs on Saturday, as the main parking lot at the Saamis Tepee will be reserved for elders, delegates and dancers, with overflow parking near the Moose Ball Diamonds.
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