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ee ee ee sa You r O p I n 10 n ee ee ee EEE ae - " . ', « r e + ' > ~ woeeeeeeren eee ae Page 5, Tuesday, Sept. 22, 1992 eee Native community goes soul searching "I don't know where we're going, but we'll go as far as we can." Jim Windigo, Master of Ceremonies, Pays Plat First Nation Traditional Pow- Wow, Saturday, September 12, 1992. Jim Windigo was at the microphone for three long evenings and three longer afternoons, telling the odd joke and introducing the next song or dance. With the endurance of Joe Clark, the one-armed man from Fort Frances stood inside the MC stand overlooking the Pow-Wow grounds. An eight-sided "pagoda" roof supported by large logs had been newly built at the centre of the circle, protecting the drummers, singers and sound equipment from the rain, but not the wind. A much wider circle of picnic tables and lawn chairs welcomed everyone to sit down and join in. Drummers and singers from Duluth, Geraldton, Rocky Bay, Lake Helen, Thunder Bay, Shoal Lake and Fort Frances took turns singing and drumming with two groups from the host reserve: The Pays Plat Singers and Little Fire. Taking turns as they did, the drumming never stopped. The relentless beat and amplified wailing voices could be heard up and down the Trans-Canada Highway, attracting tourists and truckers to stop. Dancers in traditional regalia shuffled clockwise around the pagoda, sometimes in large numbers, sometimes in pilgrimages of one. Non-native people, a few dressed up like Indians, joined in. Some dancers did the traditional "two step," others more elaborate twirls. Dancers came from near and far, like the singers, to move around the circle for hours or days. Ken Goodchild, the Pow-Wow organizer, calls it "a healing circle." He told me the story of Norman Achneepineskum, a 24-year old resident of Pays Plat, who began the revival of traditional singing and dancing on the reserve in 1990. "There was a group of people rmun- ning across Canada to support the warriors in Oka (Quebec) that summer," Norman said. "One of the people with the runners was an old man, with a hand drum. When they stopped overnight in Pays Plat, the old man showed Norman how to drum. That inspired him. Two weeks later, I saw him walking in front of my house, banging an old drum he found. He didn't know how to sing, but he was so happy to be drumming and kind of finding himself. I invited him for a hamburger, and we talked and laughed with joy." Ken gave Norman a moose hide, to make a proper drum. Norman phoned all over Canada and the United States, asking people how to make a drum - and where to learn how to sing. "That's how the Pays Plat Singers got started," Ken told me. Learning how to sing and drum doesn't sound remarkable. But Pays Plat is a community struggling to find itself. Broken by generations of alcohol abuse, welfare dependency, internal feuds and exploitation by white entrepreneurs (not to mention being literally split down the middle by the Trans-Canada Highway), this reserve between Nipigon and Rossport has been looking for its soul. Like other communities seeking a soul, the major problem is knowing where to start the search. continued on page 10 -- a: = a a cm © ---- ee : well-known standard in the I business. ' ' Buying O i Starting October 1, 1992, the Ontario . retail sales tax you pay when you privately buy a used car, van or light truck, will , be based on the purchase price or the average wholesale value, whichever is ' more. The average wholesale value is set using the Canadian Red Book, a : The tax is paid when you change i the vehicle ownership at your local Driver : and Vehicle Licence Issuing Office. used vehicle Some changes in ownership, such as gifts between certain family members, are tax-free with legal proof. Starting April 1, 1993, if you want to sell your vehicle privately, you will have to buy.a vehicle transfer package and give it to the buyer before the sale is completed. The package will be r Selling A 3 Used Vehicle? Here's What | You Must Know. : tax. available at all Driver and Vehicle Licence Issuing Offices and from the Ministry of Consumer and Commercial Relations. Consumers will benefit from information Used Vehicle Information Program on the vehicle's history, outstanding debts on the vehicle and retail sales ' If you're planning to buy or sell a ; used vehicle privately and would like more information, call 1-800-263-7965. : Telephone Device for the Deaf, call : 1-800-263-7776. \ @ Ontario | Pour toute demande de renseignements en francais, composer le 1-800-668-5821.