Powwow special to honour children with disabilities made them all winners
Inspired by their 11-year-old son Emory Zane Rabbitskin, who was born with Down syndrome, they decided to hold a powwow special to honour children with disabilities. A special is a competition or event within a larger powwow that honours a person, group or cause.
After fundraising and hard work, their disability special was held on July 24 as part of the Big River First Nation powwow, roughly 180 kilometres north of Saskatoon.
WATCH | Big River First Nation family hosts powwow special to honour those living with disabilities:
Big River First Nation family hosts powwow special to honour those living with disabilities
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Rabbitskin said her son loves to dance powwow, but it got harder as he aged out of tiny tots and into the junior category, where he would need to compete to win. Judges never look at the ones with disabilities, or acknowledge how hard they try, she said.
"I had problems with that with my son when it came to competition powwows," she said. "He didn't get recognized when we went to powwows. So that's why I did this."
She said children with disabilities sometimes don't understand why they don't win and it's hard for them. They can get mad or even cry at the end, which is heartbreaking for the parents. She decided to host a special where her child, along with others living with disabilities, could feel like winners and be honoured.
"That's what I did," she said. "I honoured all of them."
Each dancer had a blanket placed down for them to dance on. Attendees came out from the stands to give them presents or money. Rabbitskin also gifted them shirts.
"People were expecting me to award them first place, second place, and third, but I didn't want that. I wanted to share everything with the ones with disabilities, and for them to know that they are loved by all communities."
She said the turnout for the special was overwhelming. Lots of children living with all different kinds of disabilities came and introduced themselves and their disabilities, which was eye-opening for a lot of people.
"I would like other communities to do something like this for each kid with a disability," Rabbitskin said.
"Traditional powwows, competition powwows. Let them do it everywhere."
La-Dawn Redcrow's son Redcrow took part in the event. They are from Saddle Lake Cree Nation in Alberta.
"I thought it was so beautiful how they honoured everybody and they started off by getting us to speak about their disability," Redcrow said.
"I thought that was really beautiful."
Redcrow said she has been to a couple powwows where they honoured children with disabilities, but this one was unique because of the blankets and amount of love they received.
"I don't think they get honoured enough," she said. "They're human too, and they don't actually have their own category."
Connie and Donald Dreaver's daughter Kyley Dreaver also danced in the special. They are from Big River First Nation in Saskatchewan.
Connie said Kyley spent most of the first five years of her life in the hospital for medical reasons.
"She has a lot of health issues with her breathing, her lungs, and we can barely take her anywhere because she can't walk too far," Connie said.
Donald said this was the first time Kyley participated in a special of this kind, so they didn't know what to expect, but would like to see more like it in the future.
"She expects to win every time," Connie said.
"She likes to be the centre of attention," Donald said, as both parents laughed.
Connie said some children with disabilities don't understand the meaning of competition, which made this special meaningful.
"They don't really understand the meaning of dancing powwow, they are just there to have fun," she said.
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