School celebrates

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The Office of Native Students Services and the School of Native Studies at the University of Alberta are joining together to host the third annual Flying Moon Round Dance on Aug. 31.

The celebration will begin at 5 p.m. on the university quad. The event is free, and is open to the public.

The round dance takes its name from the Cree word for the month of August - Ohpahowipisim - which means "flying-up moon" or "flying moon", signifying the time of year "when young birds fly away on their own."

According to Lewis Cardinal, director of Native Student Services, the annual Flying Moon Round Dance was begun as a way to welcome new students, the "birds" that are leaving their nests.

"Those birds, as they left their nest, are actually landing here, for their first stop on their journey . . . the journey of their lives," Cardinal said.

"We need to honor those who are coming here for the first time, and to let them know that there is an Aboriginal presence on campus, that there is actually an Aboriginal community here, and that we need to celebrate and recognize the beginning of their journey on the path of education.

"People get to know each other in an informal, yet ceremonial way," Cardinal said. "It's really something else to be able to walk out into the quad at about 9 o'clock, 10 o'clock at night, and it's dark, and it's just filled with drums, and people laughing. It really creates a real powerful sense of community."

For more information about the Flying Moon Round Dance, call U of A Native Student Services at 492-5677.