The third annual stɑl'əw̓ Pow Wow will feature special events such as an Orange Shirt dance, and Red Dress dance during its three-day run at the Langley Events Centre. The pow wow welcomes everyone and is one of the largest events of its kind in Metro Vancouver. “Since inception, the stɑl'əw̓ Pow Wow was intended to bring people together in a good way, with open hearts and minds,” said q̓wɑt̓ic̓ɑ Phyllis Atkins, stɑl'əw̓ Arts & Cultural Society manager.
“We wanted this to be a safe and inclusive event for everyone to gather and be able to witness the beauty and strength of our Indigenous culture through drumming, singing, dancing and art.” The event celebrates the First Nation communities of qʼwa:n̓ƛʼən̓, q̓ic̓əy̓, Máthxwi, and Se’mya’me’ which have shared and co-stewarded the lands known today as Langley. The pow wow runs Friday, Sept.
13 to Sunday, Sept. 15. For the special dances (orange shirt and red dress) will be on Saturday, Sept.
14. Drum groups and dancers will perform, sharing their healing medicine to honour and support those harmed by residential schools, and missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, and two-spirit peoples (MMIWG2S) and their families. Indigenous visual arts will also be celebrated through the reveal of a new MMIWG2S flag design that will be used at all future stɑl'əw̓ Pow Wows.
The stɑl'əw̓ Pow Wow is organized by stɑl'əw̓ Arts & Cultural Society in partnership with the Township of Langley. The society received funding from the Government of Canada, United Way of BC, SurreyCares Foundation, City of Surrey, and City of Langley to support the event. Dance and drum competitors and vendors from all over Canada and the US will share their gifts at this family-focused event with songs brought by the Host Drum Bad Canyon and Honorary Host Drum Black Lodge.
The pow wow is named to reflect the importance of the Fraser River in Indigenous culture, history, and society. stɑl̓əw̓ translates to big river in the hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ language. The stɑl̓əw̓ Arts & Cultural Society is an Indigenous women-led registered charity.
The pow wow schedule is available online at . Tickets are $10 for ages six and older for a single pass. Elders are admitted free.
Weekend passes cost $20. On Friday, the public can attend starting at 6 p.m.
Grass dancers open the event with a blessing of the floor before the grand entry, opening prayer, opening remarks. Intertribal dancing starts at 7:30. There's dancers ranging in age from small children to seniors.
The evening wraps up around 10 p.m. The doors open at noon on Saturday with the blessing of the floor at 12:45 p.
m. followed by the grand entry, opening prayer, opening remarks. The Red Dress Special dance is at 1:30 p.
m. with special guests. Dancing takes place throughout the afternoon by various age groups before the dinner break and performances by Butterflies in Spirit and Xwelmexw Shxwexwo:s/Salish Thunderbirds.
An evening of dancing wraps up about 10:30 p.m. Sunday's schedule has the doors opening at noon and the blessing of the floor at 12:45 p.
m. followed by the grand entry, opening prayer, opening remarks. The pow wow pageant and crowning takes place starting at 1:30 p.
m. followed by dance contests during the remainder of the afternoon. The event closes with honouring the committee and volunteers, and prizes given out to the dance winners.
There is artist and artisan market inside and food vendors outside. This is a drug- and alcohol-free event with organizers wanting it to be a safe space where harassment, abuse, and discrimination are not tolerated..
