Strawberry Moon Festival

Jeff Green | Jun 23, 2016

The Strawberry Moon Festival celebrates the end of the school year and the culmination of the visits by Marcie Asselstine, the Aboriginal playgroup co-ordinator at Northern Frontenac Community Services, to area schools.

Asselstine, a member of the Shabot Obaadjiwan First Nation, delivers an program based on Algonquin teachings to students at Granite Ridge Education Centre in Sharbot Lake; Prince Charles Public School in Verona; Land O'Lakes Public School in Mountain Grove; Clarendon Central Public School in Plevna; and St. James Catholic School in Sharbot Lake.

“It just so happens that the end of the school year, the strawberry moon, and the solstice, which is also National Aboriginal Day in Canada, all came together on the same day this year,” said Asselstine, on a brilliantly sunny, and comfortably cool Tuesday, as six classrooms of children clambered back onto their buses after a morning spent in the hall and on the grounds of St. James Major Catholic Church.

After a ceremonial opening prayer by Shabot Obaadjiwan Chief Doreen Davis in the hall, the children took turns visiting four stations over the next 90 minutes. In the hall, they did crafts under the supervision of Marianne Wilson and Susan Ramsay, and ate cornbread and berries prepared by John Davis. Outside they squeezed into a teepee and listened to stories from Danka Brewer; then they climbed up the hill behind the church to listen and move to the drumming of the Women's Drum (Valerie Hermer, Lily Lagace-Zierer, Nancy McDermott, Sandy Hallam and Pam Giroux).

Afterwards they all gathered for a massive round dance at the drumming circle.

“We've done Strawberry Moon Festivals for a number of years now, and they just get better and better,” said Asselstine as she waved goodbye to the students for another year.