achimo 2022 a celebration of storytelling and connection

The number of times it has been done on this land is beyond count - friends gathered in a circle to hear stories.

Whether sitting by a campfire under the stars, or huddled under blankets in a teepee on a cold winter's night, they came together to entertain and teach; To laugh and share.

It was done again in the same spirit at STM College recently, when the second installment of achimo took place.

Presented by Harry Lafond, the STM Scholar in Indigenous Education, and the Authentic Indigenization Action Group, achimo 2022: Engaging Through Stories offered an afternoon of connection through storytelling.

“It’s an important part of who we are. Not just as Indigenous people, but as human beings,” said Lafond to kick off the event. “We are starved, many times, to hear a good story. Moreso during a pandemic.”

Lafond said that in Cree there are several words that speak about stories and storytelling.

Some of these words refer to special stories intended to pass on knowledge, ceremonies and belief systems. That is not what this day was to be about, in any direct way.

Instead, he said, this day was about âcimowin.

“This is storytelling. What you do with your four-year-old. What you do with your grandpa or grandma.”

Members of the Authentic Indigenization Action Group – which has been working together for about two years – were on hand for achimo 2022. They are: Michael McLean, Gertrude Rompré, Kerry Stefaniuk, Chris Hrynkow, Daniel Regnier, Jordie Cowan and Sherry Richert.

In the spirit of Indigenous protocol, Lafond called upon the committee members to present tobacco and gifts to the guest speakers.

Lafond invited the 50-plus guests to linger afterward for an informal sharing of Bannock and jam, muskeg tea, juice and other snacks.

“That’s part of storytelling,” he said. “Sharing of food and continuing to tell little stories.”

First to speak was Tara Millions, a doctoral student and lecturer in the Department of Indigenous Studies at USask. She has a love of stories, he said.

Hip Hop artist Eekwol came with a modern way of communicating, using music, rhythm and words that are constructed in such a way as to tell a story.

David Neufeld, who Lafond called a very special historian due to his passion for the stories of the earth, and the peoples who have lived on that earth, and Louise Halfe, Parliament’s Poet Laureate, were also on the program.

Well known to the STM College community are Elders AJ and Patricia Felix, who were situated in the chapel, where a teepee had just been raised.

“The reason we’ve raised a teepee in the Chapel, is because the teepee has become a place of prayer,” Lafond said. “It’s a place of sacred thinking. And so, it’s there to be used as a place of prayer and reflection. As a place of quiet. AJ and Patricia will tell us about that.”

And then, just like it has happened so many times before, the introductions were over, and the room got quiet. The listeners leaned in. It was story time.