When Amanda Rheaume told me that a line dance group in Toronto was now doing one to her tune Come on Down to Flossies, my mind immediately harkened back to the Métis kitchen parties in the days of my youth. I then started thinking… maybe it would be fun to have one as a new event for Reconciliation Through Art this year. The juices started flowing, I called our Co-Chair Pamela Steele who loved the idea, and that was that!
I grew up in the bush not too far from my home community of Lac Ste. Anne, Alberta. After the priests first arrived in 1844, they established a mission that today hosts the largest Indigenous Pilgrimage in North America. Our people became Catholic. Attending Mass, Benediction and Stations of the Cross became a way of life.
Every Sunday we would get into a horse-drawn buggy or sleigh to trek into the community to attend Mass where, in my day, we were looked down upon, called heathens, and admonished for playing the fiddle, an instrument of the devil!
After mass we’d go to an uncle or auntie’s house to visit with relatives and for some boulettes y bang (meatball stew and bannock). We often found ourselves going to my auntie Flossie’s. I loved going there because it was a great time to be with cousins, read comic books and play games.
After a while, the sound of the fiddler tuning up meant it was time to push the table and all the chairs aside to make room for a dance floor. Those were memorable times for a me as I crawled under the fiddler’s chair to watch a sea of moccasins move rhythmically to the jigs, reels and waltz tunes passed down over the ages.
Those same tunes and more are going to be heard at our Métis Kitchen Party in Almonte.
JUNO-nominated Métis singer-songwriter Amanda Rheaume will entertain and get everyone going by line dancing to Come on Down to Flossies. Her gutsy guitar-driven style, punctuated with lively Métis fiddle, is sure get everyone’s juices flowing.
The dynamic Manitoba Métis duo of Jason Lepine and Lionel Desjarlais will perform fast moving, foot stomping, hand clapping traditional Métis dance tunes like Whiskey Before Breakfast, Big John McNeil, and The Red River Jig. Lionel will regale us with some songs in Michif and a Cajun song or two.
Lyle Donald and the Edmonton Métis Traditional Dancers, celebrating their 40th anniversary, will dazzle attendees with their electrifying footwork! Everyone will then be invited to join in the fun. In preparation for this, we have asked Riley McKenzie from the Métis dance troupe Prairie Fire to hold an afternoon’s teaching of Métis dance steps, a week before the Party, at the Almonte Old Town Hall on September 28. Whether you are Métis stepping or two-stepping, you’ll fit right in on the dance floor at the Métis Kitchen Party!
Doors open at 5:30pm, the music and performance begins at 6pm, and food is served at 7. Suzette Foucault (Indigenous owner of Manitou Bistro in Renfrew) is our caterer, and everyone will be talking about her mouth-watering stew and salad for a long time. It’s a rather upscale version of the boulettes my Auntie Flossie served us back in the day — a slow-cooked, gluten-free stew with 14 different herbs and spices, butternut squash and carrots (vegan available). The accompanying delicious bannock will be brought to us by The Frybread Queen, Carol Anne Maracle of Tyendinaga.
And then the party begins! There will also be a cash bar. Come ready to eat, dance, visit and celebrate together. As an added treat, the Frybread Queen will serve her famous Bear Paws all evening long.
Get your tickets at Tickets Please (TicketsPlease.ca, 485–6434) and join us on Friday, October 2 at the North Lanark Agricultural Hall at the Fair Grounds: 195 Water Street in Almonte. Questions? Contact us at info@reconciliationthroughart.ca.
