 Come join us on February 9th and 10th for two very special workshops at Plenty Canada! Jessie-Anne Sarazin from Pikwakinagan First Nation will be facilitating these events: SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 9th: Traditional Beadwork 10:00 - 4:00pm Plenty Canada (266 Plenty Lane, Lanark, ON) Workshop fee: $50 Light refreshments will be provided; participants are encouraged to pack a lunch. Jessie-Anne will be teaching techniques for creating traditional Algonquin beadwork. Designs are beaded onto felt, which is then sewn onto an item (moccasins, clothing, bags). This workshop is open to anyone interested in creating a beaded design; they do not have to be specifically for moccasins. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 10th: Making Traditional Moccasins from Hide 10:00 - 4:00pm Plenty Canada (266 Plenty Lane, Lanark, ON) Workshop fee: $100 Light refreshments will be provided; participants are encouraged to pack a lunch. Participants will have the opportunity to learn hands-on skills on how to make a pair of traditional moccasins from deer hide or moose hide. Our deer and moose hides are sourced from Six Nations of the Grand River. Participants will leave with their very own pair of moccasins. FEBRUARY 9TH & 10TH COMBO DISCOUNT: Participants who have created their beadwork on Feb 9th, and wish to make moccasins on Feb 10th, will get a reduced rate of $135 for both days! Please select the combo option at registration to receive your reduced rate   • We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts, which last year invested $153 million to bring the arts to Canadians throughout the country.
• Nous remercions le Conseil des arts du Canada de son soutien. L’an dernier, le Conseil a investi 153 millions de dollars pour mettre de l’art dans la vie des Canadiennes et des Canadiens de tout le pays.
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The Bear Feast Ceremony was magnificent. It was an intimate gathering led by Algonquin Elder and language speaker from Pikwakanagan, Barry Sarazin. We had the honour to hear Barry explain the history, significance and meaning of the Bear Feast Ceremony. He explained why we pay our respects and pray for the baby bears being born every year after the Winter Solstice to mark the new year, and how the playful bears maintain the health of the forest and its plant life such as food and medicines. He also shared four songs on the Thunderbird Drum that are specific to this ceremony. The feast was so delicious with local and traditional foods, and we offered a plate outside to the bear spirit. Meegwetch, thank you, merci Barry for this beautiful experience and revitalizing this special ceremony. We look forward to taking part in more traditional ceremonies here at Plenty Canada!   We had another incredible workshop led by Jessie-Ann Sarazin on Sunday. Each participant designed their own beadwork in their own style, which all turned out beautiful and unique. Some participants plan to attach their beadwork onto their moccasins! We had another visit from the deer on Sunday as well! The last couple of days have been filled with valuable shared knowledge and experiences that every participant will remember and cherish. Chi miigwetch, thank you so much Jessie-Ann for the honour to learn from you and for sharing your traditional knowledge and skills with us. You make learning so fun and exciting! Another chi miigwetch to the Sarazins and to all of the participants for a beautiful weekend filled with learning, laughter and love. Join us for more workshops like this one in February! We will keep you posted on our Facebook and Website. Miigwetch, thank you for the support from the Ontario Arts Council and the Canada Council for the Arts for the creation of this workshop!  
We had a beautiful workshop yesterday with lots of laughter, sharing and learning. A doe and her baby also came to the office to visit us during the workshop! These are only half of the participants shown in the photos, but a big warm thank you to everyone who came out and for making yesterday so special! Miigwetch, thank you to the Ontario Arts Council and the Canada Council for the arts for all their support!  
 Barry Sarazin from Pikwakanagan First Nation, Chuck Commanda from Kitiga Zibi First Nation, Larry McDermott from Sharbot Obajiwinan First Nation, and Plenty Canada Summer Students hosted a gathering to share the language, stories, and teachings of the Anishinaabeg people. The opportunity to educate non-Indigenous youth was seized, as Biosphere Education joined the gathering. Biosphere Education is an organization dedicated to preserving Earths beautiful creatures through storytelling and photo journalism, and for this year’s expedition four youth, led by biologist Dr. Shelley Ball, joined an on-going project to better understand how climate change may affect wild rice, or as it is known by the Anishninaabeg people, Manoomin. By bringing together knowledge holders and the biosphere youth expedition, we created a cross-cultural dialogue that helped gain a deeper understanding of biodiversity for all attendees. Students helped Plenty Canada complete a benthic invertebrate diversity index for McCullochs Mud Lake, a nearby provincially significant wetland, that is home to species at risk such as the Least bittern, and Black tern. This data will be shared in a final report that highlights Manoomin, and how climate change may affect this sacred, and only cereal native to North America.
 Chuck Commanda and Cole Williams take the birchbark canoe they built for its maiden voyage. On July 20, 2018 master birchbark canoe maker Chuck Commanda and his apprentice Cole Williams, with the assistance of Murphy's Point Provincial Park employees, successfully launched a birchbark canoe that was created over a two week period at the park. The canoe launch event included a smudge ceremony, passing of the eagle feather, and guest speaker Larry McDermott, Executive Director of Plenty Canada.
You can read the full story posted by the Perth Courier Newspaper HERE You can find our full album of photos from the day on our Facebook page  Algonquin birch bark canoe craftsman, Chuck Commanda, sharing his knowledge. Last Saturday, August 19th, Plenty Canada and Mississippi Mills' All My Relations group hosted a reconciliation event in Almonte at St Paul's Anglican Church, entitled Renewing Our Friendships. We are pleased to report that the event was another resounding success! There were a number tents set up at the event. One featured information on Plenty Canada, the Circle of All Nations, and an independent arts-based reconciliation project. The event also hosted a number of guest speakers, including Plenty Canada’s own Chuck Commanda and Shaelyn Wabegijig! Throughout the day, Chuck Commanda worked on his birch bark canoe and was there to discuss his work with the attendees. For the third time this summer, we performed a smudging ceremony at our event. Afterwards, we asked attendees to share their thoughts on reconciliation. The responses that emerged from the attendees were honest, insightful, reflective, and showed much gratitude for what they learned and experienced throughout the day! Find a brief description of responses below.  This week’s invasive species is the zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha). Zebra mussels can filter up to one litre of water per day, making the water they are submerged in quite clear.
This week’s invasive species is the emerald ash borer (Argrilus planipennis).
This small insect was first found in Ontario in 2002 and has been wreaking havoc on the province’s Ash trees ever since.
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