Noongom

- Season 1

(2016)

Gabrielle gives viewers a lesson in Powwows 101 by attending the Ottawa Summer Solstice Aboriginal Festival. Greg Meekis, an aboriginal drummer, talks about the power of the drum and Gabriel Castilloux shares her story about how she became a jingle dress dancer. Gabrielle also guides the audience through powwow etiquette and discovers helpful tips for first-time festival goers.

Indigenous people often move to urban centers for opportunities that are not offered on reserves or remote communities. Indigenous people that have moved to the city are 8 times more likely to experience homelessness. Gabrielle meets Kevin, Carrie and Pudloo to help break the stigma surrounding aboriginal homelessness and visits Shawenjeagamik, the only indigenous homeless drop-in in Ottawa.

When talking about Indigenous people today, we often hear words like colonization, assimilation, indigenize. But what do all these terms mean? What is the real history of this land and where did the relationship go wrong? In short, a lot of pain and trauma continue to hurt Indigenous peoples however we need all Canadians in order to bring reconciliation to this land. We need allies.