Hooping it Up

Summer Solstice activities started today in the Sombe K'e Park near city hall. I wandered over after work, on the eve of the longest day. A Cree dancer from Alberta had just begun two traditional dances. This is the Hoop dance, which the emcee said women never performed in the early days.

She also did a traditional dance, a very subtle routine, set to a "story song", about girls taken and abandoned by fur traders when they returned to their women back home. They were called "country wives".

The usual festival fare of hot dogs and cotton candy was supplemented by the surprising offering of perogies and sausage ($5) from the Yk Ukranian Association.

Tomorrow the park will be abuzz with music. And CBC will do six hours of live programming from noon to six. The aboriginal broadcasters don't book guests ahead of time--they find people in the crowd to bring into the tent for interviews. Now that's spontaneous programming! Last year none of the guests lined up for the English afternoon program showed up. So they went into the crowd, roped in some people the host knew and the show, I'm told, was terrific. I think of all the hours we put into preparation for our remote shows in Halifax...