When the U.S.-Canada border was drawn through Southeast Alaska in 1903, it left Tlingit, Haida and Tshimshian peoples on both sides. But though that line may have led to different political and legal systems, they are one people and Celebration strengthens them all, they say.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re all on this road toward reclaiming our culture, our language and really our identity as First Nation or as Native people,\u201d said Sean Smith, a member of the Kwanlin Daghalhaan K\u2019e dancers out of Whitehorse and Kwanlin D\u00fcn First Nation Councillor. Smith is Tutchone Tlingit.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have learned much from our people on the coast and have shared knowledge from the Interior too,\u201d said Marilyn Jensen, founder and leader of the Dakhk\u00e1 Khw\u00e1an Dancers out of Whitehorse. Jensen is Inland Tlingit and Tagish Khw\u00e1an. \u201cWe truly consider ourselves to be one nation although things are vastly different on each side of the border politically.\u201d<\/p>\n
[Celebration: Keeping culture alive with canoes<\/a>.]<\/p>\n Canada indigenous populations have recently seen a marked change in the political conversation with the release of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission report in May 2015 (the TRC addressed the treatment of First Nations) and the election of Justin Trudeau as prime minister later that year.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of good positive movement happening,\u201d said Robert Davidson, a founding member of the Rainbow Creek dancers and a renowned Haida artist and carver who did the external panels of the Walter Soboleff Center. According to Davidson, the TRC report \u201creally opened the eyes up of the general Canadian population on how First Nations were treated. A (Supreme Court Chief Justice) declared that it was genocide.\u201d<\/p>\n Canada\u2019s First Nations have been engaged in a battle for cultural and treaty rights.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s been a tough number of years,\u201d said Smith of the Harper government. \u201cIt was a challenge for the First Nations community to reclaim those cultural components within their communities.\u201d Trudeau\u2019s government has put a priority on building relationships with the First Nations and recognizing what happened in the past, Smith said.<\/p>\n In December, Trudeau called for \u201ca renewed, nation-to-nation relationship with First Nations peoples, one that understands that the constitutionally guaranteed rights of First Nations in Canada are not an inconvenience but rather a sacred obligation.\u201d He\u2019s vowed to increase funding for education in First Nations communities and has launched an inquiry into the large number, somewhere between 1,000 and 4,000, of missing and murdered indigenous women across Canada.<\/p>\n But changing Canada\u2019s relations with its indigenous peoples is easier said than done, in Jensen\u2019s opinion. \u201cThe new power word and terminology used is \u2018reconciliation\u2019 which requires that we start at a place of truth,\u201d she wrote in an email. \u201cIt means that every person living in Canada must deconstruct a painful and ugly history,\u201d she said. \u201cIt can\u2019t be forced by government and it cannot be one-sided.\u201d<\/p>\n [Haute couture: Celebration’s first ever Native fashion show<\/a>.]<\/p>\n Jensen, Davidson and Smith all see culture \u2014 and the sharing of it through festivals such as Celebration \u2014 at the heart of indigenous resurgence and growing political voice on either side of the border.<\/p>\n \u201cThrough dancing and through singing our songs, I really feel that we are gaining a lot more strength,\u201d Davidson said.<\/p>\n \u201cJust coming to the festivals, that\u2019s an important bridge behind the whole movement behind revitalizing First Nation (and) Native communities,\u201d Smith said. \u201cWe have strength in numbers and if we\u2019re connected then we\u2019re stronger as a people.\u201d<\/p>\n [Celebration’s lead dance group has surprises up its sleeve for performances<\/a>.]<\/p>\n The name of Smith\u2019s dance group reflects its mission to connect Native people to each other and to their culture. \u201cKwanlin\u201d is the Southern Tutchone name for the area around Whitehorse and \u201cDaghalhaan K\u2019e\u201d means \u201camongst our relations.\u201d The group has members from the Southern and Northern Tutchone, Kaska, Tlingit and other tribes. They have also focused on developing a relationship with dancers in Klukwan.<\/p>\n There are versions of Celebration in Canada too, such as H\u00e1 Kus Teyea, held in Teslin in odd years, and Ad\u00e4ka in Whitehorse. Smith said that members of a Mount St. Elias dance group have attended those festivals looking to reestablish connections to the inland that go back thousands of years.<\/p>\n Davidson describes the Rainbow Creek group as small but committed. Going up to Juneau and seeing the strength of other dance groups helps them stay inspired.<\/p>\n \u201cSome day they will be the elders,\u201d Davidson said.<\/p>\n Jensen said that communication between people on both sides of the border has increased in recent years. She credits social media as helping to connect her with coastal Tlingits.<\/p>\n \u201cWe can keep up with what is going on each others\u2019 lives and communities,\u201d she said, noting that she\u2019s \u201cespecially close to other dancers because we share the same passion in life, we share knowledge, we share songs, and we share our desire of reclamation, revitalization and being active participants of our culture.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2022 Contact Capital City Weekly staff writer and designer Randi Spray at randi.spray@capweek.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n More Celebration coverage:<\/p>\n David R. Boxley wins top prize at Celebration art contest<\/a><\/p>\n Photo Slideshow: Celebration 2016 Grand Entrance Processional<\/a><\/p>\n