A Voice from the Eastern Door
A Voice from the Eastern Door
The grandchildren showing their Totas how kids dance these days.
Some of the younger guests got all dressed up for the Tota and Me Dance. (L to R) Tethoiohn Sharrow and Addison Point.
Rakwirahes Pembleton chose to wear his traditional attire to the Tota and Me Dance.
The Totas teaching their grandchildren how they danced back when they were younger.
The organizers of the Tota and Me Dance gathered for a group photo. (L to R) Gwen Barten, Diane King, Carol Mitchell, Amber Montour, Gabriel Hall, Dr. Treena Greene, Megan Ellis and Ellen Alie.
Two Lucky raffle winners (L to R) Janet Davis and Georgia Jacobs.
Dr. Treena Greene speaking on the importance of cancer screenings.
On January 27th, 2018 the very first Tota and Me Dance took place at the Akwesasne Mohawk Casino and Resort. The event itself was a joint effort between the Community Health Program, Wholistic Health and Wellness and the Champlain Regional Cancer Program.
Carol Mitchell, Program Manager of Community Health stated, "We wanted to put an event together that would help to bridge the gap between the elders and the youth in our community. The elders have so much knowledge to share; we want to give them the opportunity to share their knowledge with our youth in their families. We just took the Daddy and Me Dance and switched it up to suit what we were trying to accomplish, by coming up with the 'Tota and Me Dance'."
The event began at 5:00 pm in the AMCR banquet hall with guests registering and being seated. An introduction of the event then took place before Rakwirahes Pembleton did the Ohenton Karihwatehkwen. Dinner was then served to everyone, while guests were eating, Dr. Treena Greene gave a short presentation. Dr. Treena Greene spoke about the importance of the youth and elders looking after one another, and helping each other. She also spoke a bit on the importance of cancer screenings. Once everyone was finished eating, Jared "DJ Rod" Gray started playing some good old-fashioned oldies to get everyone in the dancing mood. The MCA Communications Unit also set up a photo booth for guests to get their photos taken. Totas and their grandchildren danced the night away, and towards the end of the evening a few prizes were raffled off.
Overall, the event had such a great turnout; there are talks about making the Tota and Me Dance an annual event.
Carol Mitchell also stated "Thank you to everyone who helped to make this event a success, the ladies from the Community Health Program, Amber Montour from Wholistic Health and Wellness and the Cancer Care Ontario Team. There is definitely going to be more events in the near future. To stay posted on future events, like our Facebook page 'Mohawk Council of Akwesasne: Community Health Program'."
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