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Contents Feature - Rhythm of nations Dancing down under Powwow summer Capital powwow Origin of power Born to dance Make your own dreamcatcher Cartographer's table Games CG vault Re:sources

It was late June 2001 and nearly a month since Carmen Daniels of Edmonton, Alta. had fulfilled her dream of moving to Australia. She had spent the month exploring this land that had enchanted her since she was 12 years old.

PHOTO: AARON DAVIS

Little did Daniels know at the time that she was a four-hour drive away from an aboriginal festival with a powwow spirit strong enough to rekindle her Cree roots.

Australian Powwow
She decided to attend the 2001 Laura Festival, an Australian aboriginal gathering, to absorb her adopted country's native culture as part of an article she was writing for the Aboriginal Youth Network.

Launched in the early 1980s, the Laura Festival is a three-day event held at the traditional Ang-gnarra meeting grounds, 300 kilometres north of Cairns in North Queensland. Up to 4,000 people descend upon the tranquil setting in the bush on Australia's north coast every two years.

The first thing Daniels noticed when she arrived at the festival was the sweet smell of eucalyptus trees that filled the air. The grounds were surrounded by foothills and the land was covered with tents. And there was dancing, singing and music, just like home.

"That was the first time I felt the oh-my-god-they're-just-like-me feeling since I moved. It helped fill that part of me that misses the powwows," says Daniels, 29, from her home in Cairns, Australia.

PHOTO: AARON DAVIS

Having grown up as a powwow dancer in Alberta, Daniels was drawn to the Australian aboriginal movements and found the dances were similar to those she knew. Every dance at the Laura Festival has a story behind it. Daniels says it was magical to see the dancers perform under the scorching, dry sun. As the pace rose, so too would the level of dust from beneath their feet.

"Everything, from the dances to the paints, shows where performers are from and what kind of story they're telling," says Jeremy Geia, festival director.

The festival is growing in popularity since there is a growing interest in tradition among Australian aboriginals. "We're seeing a cultural revival," says Geia. "The picture in Australia is not a pretty one for aboriginals, so this is a way for them to take pride."

Much like powwows in Canada today, indigenous festivals in Australia balance the celebration of their traditions with modern touches. The Laura Festival holds traditional performances in the daytime, but come nightfall, modern music and dance takes over. "It's important to know where you're from and where you're going, but there's nothing wrong with a little rock and roll," says Geia.

Daniels has been to two Laura Festivals now and hopes to go again. She says it's nice to feel a connection with home despite the distance that separates her from her community. Daniels is returning to Canada for part of the summer (see "Bringing it home"). Her timing couldn't be better. "I'm so glad I'm going home during powwow season!"

Bringing it home Carmen Daniels is so excited about the culture she is absorbing in Australia that she wants to bring it home so others can share the same experience. PHOTO: AARON DAVIS Daniels is working with the Yubba Bimbie dancers from Yarrabah, an aboriginal community in Australia, and she plans to bring the dancers to Edmonton in 2006 for the International Healing Our Spirit Worldwide Conference. Once there, the dancers from Australia will work with Edmonton's White Buffalo dancers so aboriginals from the two continents can explore each other's cultures. PHOTO: AARON DAVIS The two groups have already had an online conference and Daniels is organizing a video conference for September. She has been filming the process of preparing for the trip overseas, hoping to turn the project into a documentary. Among other things, she wants to show that the dancers have much in common, despite being separated by a vast ocean.

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