Interview with Derek Barnaby. A picture of him accompanies the sound of his voice.

Derek Barnaby

Now, what had happened was, I had gone over to Peterborough, Ontario, to an Elders’ Conference, and this was a gathering for elders from pretty much all over North America, and uh, and also from, some from New Zealand.

And, uh, it was there for them to, to be able to give their gifts, whether it was medicine, vision, healing, anything in regards to culture and tradition, these were the people that were going to Peterborough. And I had travelled there, and I remember being in the grand entry, standing there, and I was watching all the dancing going on, and I was listening to the drum and I was there with a bunch of my friends who were living in the city at the time.

Now, you know, when you grow up in the community, we take for granted some of the things that we have that truly belong to us by first nation’s people. And then here I am standing in this grand entry and I just couldn’t believe the emotions that were going around between myself, my friends, and the people that were around us.

And, uh, so the emotions, I think, were really powerful at the time because the elders, and their dreams and their wishes, were being brought to that circle, you know. And it was for more people to come out and to participate in our cultural dances and our ceremonies and our gatherings. To really promote it so that these things are not forgotten.

And I remember, you know, I just sat there after a while, and I just went you know like, “This is what I wanna do. I wanna dance and I wanna be part of that”. And as soon as I got back to Ottawa, I started talking to my friend Dennis, and Dennis was from, from Saskatchewan, and he had told me, you know, he goes, “If you want to start dancing, I’ll help you”.

Now he was a dancer for many years, his wife and his children were dancers, and you know… He was really, really awesome to sit down with because he taught me a lot. And, uh…

Interviewer

And it was at the time you were a teenager?

Derek Barnaby

No, this was, uh, I was, well maybe, maybe 19 years old.

Interviewer

OK!

Derek Barnaby

Yeah! And so Dennis, Dennis tells me, he goes, “I’ll help you out with anything that you want”. And, uh… So we, we started making my regalia. We used a lot of horsehide, moose hide, anything that we can find to start making something that I can dance with. And I told him, I said, my goal was to dance at the next Peterborough, uh, Peterborough Elders’ Conference. So, you know, we sat down for days and days, and the days turn into months, and pretty much the whole entire year. You know he shared with me all of his stories, in regards to his culture and his traditions, and, and the ideas of dance and why we dance. And, uh, and it took a year to really grasp onto some of the things that he was sharing with me, you know. He learnt that over a lifetime, and he was trying his best to get me to understand it all within a year. And so we, we did it, we finally made my regalia, we had my bust already, my feather headdress ready, we had everything all done. And I had travelled to Peterborough on that, at the end of that year and I danced, and I haven’t turned back since.

Interviewer

And how did it make you feel, this first dance at the Elders’ Meeting?

Derek Barnaby

I think, you know what, for me, it was almost like a rebirth for me. To walk back into that circle, to be accepted into that circle by the other dancers, and to be recognized as somebody who had put that dedication and that hard work into, into creating a regalia. You know, because when, when you’re creating your own regalia, there are so many other people, even though they might not help you build it, they’ve helped you create it, you know, by giving you stories, by giving you understanding. So all of their wisdom and all of their history goes into your regalia. And those are the things, you know, that you, that you carry very sacred when you’re dancing. And when you’re dancing, you know, people always ask, “What do you think about? Do you pray, do you…?” You know?

Interviewer

Yeah!

Derek Barnaby

And, and I think that every thought, no matter what it is, is a prayer. You know. When we’re dancing, you know, we’re thinking about our, our family, we think about the people that we love and respect. And on top of that, we also think about the people that we don’t love and respect. The people that could be a little mean, the people that could be a little hard on you. And we say, and we think good thoughts towards those people because our dancing, in this day and age, goes towards the understanding of healing and medicine. So when you’re dancing you know, you’re thinking about those people and, uh just that thought, while you’re dancing, is medicine.