Siksika Run as One is more than a music festival
By Lorenzo Gavilan Vargas Times Reporter
The 17th annual Run as One youth awareness week kicked off on Aug. 4 with the Blackfoot Cultural Immersion Camp.
“We’re fully emerging our youth with our culture, Siksika way of life,” said Run as One lead Vanessa Buckskin. “They’re going to be learning the language, they’re going to be learning different aspects of the Siksika culture, along with protocols, customs and the crafting and artwork that goes behind making moccasins, drum making, preparing you for ceremonies.”
Buckskin says this camp is important, especially with the various recent discoveries of unmarked graves across Canada.
“With all the discoveries of the children found from residential schools, it’s important that we retain our culture and our language,” said Buckskin. “Having our youth understand that concept and giving it back to them and teaching them the proper way just sustains our culture and our way of life.”
The Blackfoot Cultural Immersion Camp will kick off the Run as One week, along with many other events that are planned throughout the week. A filmmaking camp where applicants will learn the fundamentals, such as videography, sound, lighting, and costume/set design, is set to take place on Aug. 3 and 5.
On Aug. 9 and 10, a youth excursion camp is planned, where applicants will go white water rafting in Kananaskis on the first day, then go on a tour of the caves in the Canmore area.
The Run as One Music Festival will take place on Aug. 12 and will play host to “showcase headliners that also had positive role modelling around First Nations issues,” according to Buckskin. Some musical acts playing at the event include Polaris Music Prize-nominated band Zoon, rock outfit Miesha & The Spanks, and one of the most prominent Indigenous music acts in the world, the Halluci Nation (formerly A Tribe Called Red.)
Finally, the week will come to a close with a golf tournament held in memory of Kristian Ayoungman, the Siksika man who was shot and killed in March 2019.
“So his family is collaborating with Siksika Health Services in regards to a golf tournament to fundraise for a new scoreboard for the Deerfoot Sportsplex.”
Buckskin is excited for the week and hopes the community will respond well.
“I think it’s going to be positive just because everyone is so tired of being in isolation. The disconnection is unfamiliar for First Nations communities, we’re very coherent and close-knit,” said Buckskin. “So having an event like this which the Siksika Nation can look forward to and are familiar with, we’re hoping for positive feedback and people coming and just being able to gather once again in a safe manner.”