Adaka Festival

From July 1 to 7, we attended the Adaka Festival at the Kwanlin Dun Cultural Centre in Whitehorse.  This was a great experience where we saw lots of First Nations dancing, drumming and singing, arts and crafts.  I was fortunate to attend 3 workshops: one in making silver and gem earings, one in making my own Cree drum and a third in learning first nations beading and making a headband.  We had the opportunity to speak with many first nations people about their art and life.  This was a highlight for me during our two months in Whitehorse.

Below is the front of the Kwanlin Dun Cultural Centre built on the shores of the Yukon River in downtown Whitehorse.

Behind the centre, this canoe was brought outside for the festival.  It is usually in the front lobby.  This canoe was built for the centre and in the lobby you can watch an movie of the making of it.

The tent where the artisans did their work and workshops.

Woodcarvers

Women weaving hats

Stone and antler carvers

Painters at work.

David in a copper tooling workshop

Jon, David's brother, in a stained glass workshop.

Melodie making a Cree hand drum.

The four photos below are from the gift shop/gallery at the festival.  There were very fine pieces, some by well known artists, as you can see.

There were many dancers and singers from a variety of First Nations.  One of my favourite was a group from Tuktoyaktuk.  The two children had a tendency to steal the show.