By Xavier Kataquapit
Windspeaker.com
My home community of Attawapiskat First Nation on the James Bay coast has been filled with excitement for the past few months in anticipation of Kattawapiskak Keekehwin Gathering 2024. A major week-long event from Aug. 4 to 10 will be filled with lots of fun entertainment, games for children, feasting, fund-raising activities and major live musical performances. The event will be complimented by the 2nd Annual Attawapiskat First Nation Education Authority Wellness Initiative Pow Wow taking place Aug. 9 and 10.
Kattawapiskak is the original Cree pronunciation of our community and Keekehwin is a word that means “healing together”. The organizers of this event chose this title to remind everyone why this gathering was created and one of their repeated mottos is “bringing our community together through healing and unity”.
Over the past many decades, everyone in the community knows that the only time our families gather is when a tragic event has happened or a funeral has been called. The organizers of the annual Kattawapiskak Keekehwin Gathering wanted to change that. They wanted a gathering that would celebrate life and good times with family and friends in a positive event for the entire community.
The major highlight of the seven-day gathering is a lineup of famous classic Canadian rock music bands that will be travelling to the community to perform. Harlequin will perform on Aug. 6, Glass Tiger on Aug. 7, Helix on Aug. 9 and Streetheart on Aug. 10. The gathering will also feature performances by Attawapiskat’s own Adrian Sutherland. Many local performers and musicians will also take part during the week.
Special events will be held such as aerial prize drops for participants, a Monster Bingo and a daily variety of organized games and activities for Elders, adults and children of all ages. There will be organized competition water games on the Attawapiskat River. The gathering will also feature traditional activities and games such as bannock making, a fishing derby with fish preparation and cleaning events, with all the harvested food being served to everyone. Many of the activities will mix Elders and young people together in social games.
The week-long event is set to provide plenty of food and feasting for everyone in attendance. Local cooks and chefs are taking part to sell a variety of their own styles and types of modern confections, snacks and treats. In addition, organizers are working with community members to bring and share their wild food such as goose, moose, caribou and fish gathered from the surrounding land and waterways. Local artisans and craft makers will also be available to sell their traditional crafts in animal hides, beads and furs.
Kattawapiskak Keekehwin Gathering counts on individual volunteers and on the donated time, equipment and expertise of community business owners and their machinery. The organizers received assistance in setting up the stage platforms from local businesses and corporations including the Attawapiskat Power Corporation, Tookates Equipment, Kataquapit Freight Services, Keewehtin Contracting and individual contractors and heavy equipment professionals who all volunteered their time and energy. On a Facebook post, the Keekehwin Gathering Committee said Meegwetch, (thank you) to all of the volunteers who have helped and are helping the event as it takes place.
Major sponsors of the event include the community members themselves. Over the past two years, local organizers maintained a ‘Chase The Ace’ lottery that has raised funds to build the event. The gathering is also supported by Attawapiskat First Nation, Attawapiskat FN Health Department, Mushkegowuk Council, Thunder Airlines, Northern Stores, Kataquapit Convenience and Gas, Attawapiskat Power Corporation, the Attawapiskat First Nation Education Authority and Advanced Security.
My brother Joseph Kataquapit is one of the committee members who has helped to organize this event for the past two years and I am very proud of him and all his committee members for staging such an enormous event. Follow the updates and notices of the gathering on their Facebook page at “Kattawapiskak Keekehwin Gathering AUG 4-10 2024”.