Ogamas Report

From October 15th to the 17th the Ogamas Brandon Aboriginal Literary Festival took place right here at Brandon University. The Ogamas Festival takes place every two years and is held in Brandon. This year, twenty-five Aboriginal authors attended the festival, where they presented their works and participated in roundtable discussion panels on subjects like native erotica and what is ‘native literature?’ The festival was a success, and this is of course thanks to the organizers and their small army of volunteers who had walked around and assisted, clad in the yellow volunteer t-shirts. By the way, I was one of them.

Apart from the authors coming in, there was also a group of six creative writing students from Helen Betty Osborne Ininew Education Resource Centre. These group of students came in with Doreen Meyer, an author who resides in Norway House.

“The festival has inspired me in so many ways that I can’t even explain. The hosts were very welcoming and friendly,” HBOIERC Student Brianna Queskekapow stated when reflecting on her time on the second day of the Festival.

Virgil Keam from Norway House had the opportunity to meet the author of his favourite book: April Raintree.

It is events like this and the care of educators who support events like this that give students of all ages and backgrounds an opportunity to find enlightenment. In a small intimate forum like the Ogamas Festival, it really facilitated an intimate atmosphere that not only allowed for the authors to speak in a relaxed environment but also allowed the audience to connect with the authors.

However, anyone who has gone to a concert or any other event knows that the best parts of the event aren’t on the schedule. On Friday night during the supper for the authors, some of the creative writing students had the opportunity to present works to the authors. I also had the opportunity to do so, thanks to Dale Lakevold and Di Brandt.

Finally on Saturday evening there was a concert and reading gala. The readings were done by all the authors in attendance, which included a story by Jordan Wheeler, a repeat of Rosanna Deerchild’s Pocahontas Remix, Maeengan Linklater and many others. As for the musical performances, it was yet another stunning performance in Brandon by the one and only blues guitarist Billy Joe Green with special guest Percy Tuesday.