Report from the 2009 Canadian Aboriginal Festival

Thursday

The Canadian Aboriginal Festival (CANAB) is the world's largest multi-disciplinary Aboriginal festival, now in its sixteenth year. This year the festival was held at Copps Coliseum in Hamilton instead of the Skydome or the Rogers Centre in Toronto. The move was due to climbing prices at the Rogers Centre. Many of us vendors were worried about the move and the amount of traffic, but in the end we were pleasantly surprised.

Thursday is the traditional move-in day for the festival. Moving in was a little bit confusing; however, once inside, I remembered what makes Aboriginal recruitment different from mainstream recruitment.

I was beginning to set up some modular display units created by our marketing department when immediately another recruiter joined in to help. The recruiter helped me set up two tables and the display unit, as well as lay out my materials. I was instantly reminded of the community of Aboriginal recruiters who work as a team.

Friday

Friday -- the first day of the festival -- is Education Day, attending by children from all different grades. Education Day consisted of speakers and workshops for students to participate in. Nine-thousand students registered to attend the event, up from attendance figures last year.

The students went through our education section like wildfire -- they picked up buttons, pens, viewbooks, and calendars. Education Day was the best day of the festival for post-secondary with significant numbers and interest in our institutions.

The day closed with the Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards. It was my first time attending this event, and I will make sure to attend again. Great Aboriginal musicians such as Derek Miller, Buffy St. Marie, and Whitefish Bay Singers performed and were recognized by music professionals both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal. Music ranged from round dance songs to great blues, all backed up by an awesome house band. Although this might not have much to do with PSE recruitment, as former National Chief Phil Fontaine has stated, these awards show youth they can be something.

Saturday and Sunday

We're minutes away from Canada's biggest pow-wow.

The grand entry will take almost an hour to complete, with hundreds of dancers, elders, and other respected guests entering into the dance arena.

Canada's Aboriginal population is growing at an incredible rate. This growth cannot be ignored in the education sector. The Aboriginal population is an untapped source for education. A significant proportion of the Aboriginal population has not accessed higher education.

  (photo credit: Amy Gaukel, Manager, First Year Student Experience at Seneca)

At the festival, I met the Aboriginal recruiter for Queen's University. She introduced me to her 6-month-old baby and husband, who joined her every week on the Road Warrior tour. This tour hits every Aboriginal community from Kenora to Ottawa, and the CANAB is their last stop. For me, seeing this young family on the road was the perfect way to close the festival. It reinforced Aboriginal recruitment for me -- family- and community-based recruitment where we service students and help them become successful. If that happens to be at our institutions, then great; if not, at least they are thinking about education.