Round dance at settlement is 'just what the doctor ordered'

Page 3

Residents will soon be enjoying the first powwow and round dance there in 20 yeas if all goes well.

And, a round dance is just what the doctor ordered, according to organizer Everett Lambert. He hopes the event will help bring the Metis settlement closer together, following political problems that threatened to split the community last summer.

Lambert explains the settlement erupted into "near violence" after some resident did not approve of the election of two illiterate councillors to office. He says the dispute has "settled down" now but "there are still some hard feelings."

Paddle Prairie, located 450 miles northwest of Edmonton, will host a cultural evening of traditional drum and dance demonstrations in early March if enough money can be raised for the event. To date, $250 has been contributed to the fund by Norcen oil company.

Lambert is "confident" the 600 member settlement can raise the estimated $3,5000 needed to put on the cultural evening. And, he awaits an answer from other gas and oil companies which have shown interest in sponsoring it.

Response from the community has been positive, notes Lambert. "A lot of the younger people mentioned that they've never seen a powwow or round dance before."

He says the settlement has held small round dances as well as tea dances in the past "but never a powwow." The powwow will be a "smaller version of what southern bands are used to seeing, but people here will be able to get an idea of what the dances are all about."

If the cultural evening is successful, Lambert concludes it will become an annual event.