Immigrants mark Intergenerational cultural festival
By Tom Malaba, Editorial Associate
Drumming, dancing, and singing to contemporary and cultural music filled the air as different residents of Ottawa met during this year’s Outdoor Intergenerational Cultural Festival behind Rideau High School at St. Laurent Blvd Field.
Patched on white chairs under tents the patrons mainly elderly women and men took to the stage to dance away the sweltering summer heat undeterred whenever an occasion presented itself.
A display of a rich color heritage, of either flowery or plain gab welcomed first-timers to the festival as different groups transported their audience to far-off places like Mexico, Japan, Vietnam, India and Poland in appreciation of their cultural heritage.
A group that did not dance, or sing at least exhibited their traditional items imported from their homeland or showcased their cooking skills with unique delicacies. And people in attendance had a chance to test the delicacies.
Unfortunately, the sound of the African was conspicuously missing as none of the Associations of Africans living in Ottawa showed up to make the festivities and therefore denied revelers a chance to dance away to the sound of the African drum.
Among the few organizations that participated in the festivities was the Polish-Canadian Women’s Federation established in 1956. The Polish women had an exhibition table to show things they do in Canada. Much of what they do in different cities in Canada is captured in a magazine. The Polish residents of Ottawa performed their National Dance called Krakowiak. With a group of four men and four women dressed in checkered red trousers, a white top, a black bus coat, a black hat and either black or red shoes for women, they waltzed to the amusement of those attending.
“This shows we are part of a bigger,” Ms. Ewa Zadarnowski, the President of Polish – Canadian Women Federation in Ottawa said. On her table were 10 types of different dolls made from different regions of Poland. Ms. Zadarnowski expressed concern that unlike before when girls used their ingenuity to make dolls, today they are manufactured thus denying young girls a chance to do something.
Besides Ottawa, the Polish Women’s Federation has its membership in cities like Edmonton, Vancouver, Calgary and Winsor among others.
Ms. Shobhna Sharma from Sikh Community Services Ottawa had a solo dance performance.
Also in attendance was the Vietnamese Canadian Community of Ottawa whose graceful dance while wearing green huts left many craning their necks for more.
The Ever Green Korean Association had a dance performed by the Korean Traditional Group. With high-pitched drums, ear piercing symbols the group danced making big circular formations and back.
Ms. Violine Gabriel from Jeunesse Action Multi-Z-Ailes (JAMZA) an association of People from Haiti exhibited several Haitian made sculptures. “When I first moved to Canada, I was lonely but I eventually got used. Since then whenever I feel homesick, I look at these wooden sculptures, they help me to connect with my homeland,” Ms Gabriel explained of her journey of ten years. Among her collection of wood carvings is one of a man blowing on a Negie Marron. The Negie Marron is an instrument that would be used to call people for a gathering.
“Whenever it was blown people would know they were being called to gather together. Sometimes it would be to do community work or even go to war,” Ms Gabriel said. Other items she exhibited included a wooden bottle holder, a board game, and a wooden flower vase among other things.
During the festivities, we had Jing An Chen a youth from the Kanata Chinese Seniors Support Centre showcased Kung Fu Basics. Another lady from the same organization moved the seniors to abandon their seats and take to the dance floor to exercise their bodies.
While another lady from the same group took elderly women through the art of preparing spring rolls. Everyone was welcome to try Whoever washed their hands, took a few fingers of cabbage, mushroom, or carrot and wrapped it in paper-thin pressed and finished off by fastening the seal with egg York. Whoever succeeded moved to deep fry the spring and ate it.
Though dubbed an Intergenerational cultural festival, it was the elderly and a few teenagers who graced the occasion. The teenagers who would be looked at to learn from such festivities were missing. And those present whatever was going on did not seem to appeal to them.
The generational gap came live during a youth all-girl panel discussion of Olantu Nini, Lina Nada Maach, Fatimah Karim, Thea Peters, Esther Nabatanzi, and Sharanya Sivasathiyanathan.
Very young and articulate girls had a very good discussion on topics ranging from family, politics, and employment but they seemed to be speaking more to themselves while the few grandmothers and grandfathers in attendance were not paying that much attention.
The young ladies made a passionate appeal to their absent parents to come to an understanding that unlike in the olden days when parents spoke and children listened, today’s children could speak for themselves.
However, they implored parents to help their children with resume writing and even follow through with them at their workplace.
On the political arena, the girls expressed optimism that as several countries were lowering the voting age to 16 years, they expressed optimism that Canada would follow through. They appreciated the fact that youth had representation at various levels of governance and urged parents to seek out their Members of Parliament and area Councilors for opportunities where young people could work while receiving mentorship.
Listening to the panel of empowered young girls one could not help but wonder whether the boy child was as empowered.
