| Jun 28, 2017


The theme for last week’s Strawberry Moon Festival, the 12th annual, was beavers, ‘amik’ in Algonquin and indeed it was a busy place.

The official attendance tally was 193, the vast majority of whom were children, said organizer Marcie Asselstine.

That represents a considerable increase over last year. And they saw it coming which initiated the move to the Frontenac Arena grounds from the St. James Major schoolgrounds.

Asselstine said the festival is a “wrap up” for her program in which she visits area classrooms to teach students about Algonquin culture and traditions. Since her schedule has increased, attendance at the festival was no surprise.

“I started with two classrooms,” she said. “Now I visit nine.”

The festival draws its name from the fact that June is “strawberry month,” Asselstine said. “I start planning in May, calling my traditional volunteers and putting everything together.

“We chose amik (literally translated ‘builds with wood’) this year because the beaver represents wisdom and one of my classes built beaver lodges. It’s also the 150th anniversary of Canada and the beaver is Canada’s official animal.”

To that end, they set up six stations and the visitors travelled clockwise to each one.

The first station featured headband making, complete with beaver tails. Shabot Obaadjiwan First Nation and Chief Doreen Davis provided the materials (as well as other financial support).

The second station was a traditional snack of corn bread and strawberries. Healthy Kids Community Challenge provided the strawberries.

The third station was drumming, with Red Sun men’s drum and a gathering of local women’s hand drums.

The fourth station featured local storyteller Danka Brewer telling how beaver got his distinctive teeth. She was assisted by a host of dragonflies, which she explained are the “keepers of children’s dreams.”

The fifth station featured early literacy teacher Susan Ramsey telling how beaver got his flat tail in a teepee arranged by Shawn MacDonald of the Algonquin & Lakeshore Catholic District School Board.

The sixth station featured lacrosse, a traditional First Nations game and Canada’s national summer sport.

“A lot of us here are First Nations families,” Asselstine said. “One of my students said ‘I’m Algonquin and is it ever fun.

“This is about making it OK to share our culture and bringing people together.”

Asselstine had special praise for all of her colleagues at North Frontenac Community Services, who helped organize the event.

Use of the arena grounds was arranged by South Frontenac arena and recreation supervisor Tim Laprade.

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