A beautiful intercommunity event was held last night in the friendly atmosphere of a church gymnasium in Sidney. Roughly 75 people attended the Gathering of Nations, including many from the VMS Listening Circles and about 35 Indigenous youth who demonstrated the traditional dances, songs and drumming that they have been learning on a weekly basis from knowledge keeper Patrick Leon.
It was a unique experience and an honour to share a meal together and witness the healing power that learning these traditions has for the youth, who put their whole hearts into beating the drums, singing the songs and moving in a circular dance around the gymnasium. One young man read a moving testimonial on the impact this has had on his life.
Many thanks to Patrick Leon who invited VMS to participate, to Sheila Horne of the Tsawout reserve who provided a spaghetti, salad, garlic bread and dessert, and to VMS Chair May Shihadeh who provided a vegetarian meal of rice, vegetables, dahl and hummus. A veritable feast! We’re very grateful to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints for hosting and providing servers from among the youth, and to the VMS Listening Circles volunteers who helped with cleanup. Special thanks, too, to RJC Engineering for co-sponsoring the event along with VMS.
Patrick expressed the hope that this would be the first of other such events in the future.