Indigenous teachings shared at special spring gathering

A Steinbach woman with indigenous roots helped raise a tipi Thursday morning at the Mennonite Heritage Village. 

Tahnee Hoff says she only started to learn more about her Indigenous roots while in university. 

She appreciated observing the process of raising a tipi and being asked to help. 

When Hoff first heard that a tipi was going up on the grounds of a Mennonite museum, she had some concerns. After hearing Josh Dueck, an Indigenous Student Advisor at Steinbach Bible College, speak about the Doctrine of Discovery, she says the location makes sense. 

“He talked about the history of the Mennonite settlers and Indigenous People and the relationships that they had, and how our histories aren’t separate, they’re interwoven.” 

@steinbach_online Darryl Buck and Aiden Charlette set up the tipi that is now located on the grounds of the Mennonite Heritage Village in Steinbach #tipi #indigenous #steinbach #manitoba ♬ bounce (i just wanna dance) - фрози & joyful

A spring gathering took place Thursday evening at the museum, with Indigenous culture and teachings hosted by Cory Campbell, an Ojibway Songkeeper and Storyteller. 

“I’m a neighbour,” he says. “I live in Anola, but we’re all neighbours. And this is an opportunity to bridge gaps and an opportunity to provide a little bit of information, because I believe knowledge is power. I truly believe that as a progressive region that the Southeast is becoming, the more knowledge that is shared is going to translate to more positive outcomes for everybody in terms of the relationship that we have to have with each other in order to move forward and maybe, maybe a little bit of reconciliation.” 

Campbell says he believes reconciliation is a two-way street. 

“Although Indigenous People don't need to reconcile, they need to be a part of the process. And this is one of the ways that I believe that we can do so.” 

He hopes Indigenous people of all ages who are traveling along Highway 12 will feel comfort when they see the tipi on the grounds at the Mennonite Heritage Village. 

Campbell sees it as a visible sign of respect. 

Monica Martens is the Indigenous Advocacy Chair with the Hanover Teachers’ Association. 

She talks about why it was important to put on this event, along with the Mennonite Heritage Village. 

“We encounter, as teachers, many families, parents, grandparents, students who really want to learn about Indigenous topics and Indigenous content,” Martens says. “Sometimes they are foster families who have Indigenous children who want to learn along with their children. Sometimes it's 60’s scoop survivors who have grown up in this community but have been disconnected from their culture. And then there's also settlers like myself who want to learn the things that we didn't learn much about in school. And so, this is just a great opportunity for us as teachers to give back to our community and to fund and promote events like this for folks to come together, and be together, learn together and celebrate.” 

She notes the Hanover Teachers’ Association will be holding more events like this and the public is invited to attend all of them. Martens says details can be found on their website.