Dancing Through It: Powwow Workshop Brings Culture and Joy to Kashechewan Youth
Collaborating with the incredible MeLor Kids Zone Team, Artscan Circle offered a Kids Powwow Dancing Workshop for youth from Kashechewan First Nation over two days in June.
Families from Kashechewan First Nation were evacuated to multiple cities across Ontario in January 2026, and for over six months they have faced an ongoing humanitarian crisis rooted in long standing water infrastructure challenges, keeping residents far from their homes, schools, jobs, and community. For Indigenous youth in particular, this kind of prolonged displacement carries an added weight. Being separated from familiar routines and relationships is hard enough, but being cut off from the cultural practices, languages, and community connections that are so central to identity and wellbeing makes an already difficult situation even harder to carry.
The workshop was led by Deanne Hupfield, an Anishinaabe artist, cultural facilitator and graduate of George Brown College's Fashion Techniques and Design program. Deanne has spent over a decade teaching powwow dance and Indigenous cultural traditions at the Native Canadian Centre of Toronto and with the Toronto District School Board, and her work is rooted in the belief that cultural practice is a powerful source of healing; particularly for those living away from their home communities.
The Kids Zone Team dedicated themselves over both days to the logistics of running a high-energy children's program, keeping youth safe, engaged, and where they needed to be throughout each session. Their attentive supervision and warm presence allowed Deanne to focus fully on facilitation, and their hard work behind the scenes was integral to the success of the workshop.
Over both days, Deanne guided approximately 40 youth through the art of powwow dance. The workshop offered children a joyful and grounded space to move, explore, and connect with cultural tradition amid ongoing displacement. The children played freely, tried new things, and left asking when Deanne would return.
In her own words, Deanne said, "This was a great experience for me as an artist. Artscan took very great care of me and made it easy to support the Kashechewan evacuees. As an urban Indigenous woman working with First Nations peoples who live on reserve, it was a great and positive experience. The kids told me they loved trying powwow dance. It was so fun to watch them all be silly and have fun in my dance class."
Laura Marciante, Co-founder of MeLor, who oversees Kids Zone programming for the evacuees, said this of the experience, "Deanne created such an engaging, welcoming, and authentic environment that had the kids excited from start to finish, and the experience left such a positive impact that many of the children are still talking about it days later."
