The Half-Breed Ball - Aen ball Metif - 15 Jun 2013

[IndigeNews]

The Half-Breed Ball
'Aen ball Metif'
An Evening of Traditional Food, Culture and Art

Hosted by Maria Campbell
featuring the work of artists Christi Belcourt and Sherry Farrell
Saturday June 15, 2013

Art Show and Reception 6 pm
traditional Dinner and Cultural Performances 7 pm
Dance to follow

Location: St Paul's United Church, Saskatoon

'aen ball Metif'

For more than 200 years, all visitors including Chiefs, explorers,
adventurers and traders ranging from Big Bear, Sitting Bull, Sanford
Fleming, Lewis Henry Morgan, David Thompson and a steady stream of
lesser European Royalty were regaled with a "Halfbreed Ball" upon
arriving or departing a Metis community.

They feasted and danced when the buffalo brigades met on the prairies
and when the York boat brigades arrived. Sometimes they danced on the
prairie around a campfire, the dirt floor of a large log cabin or a
frontier ballroom. The dances were always referred to as 'aen ball
Metif' or a 'Halfbreed ball' and all you needed was a space, two or
three or four fiddle players, and people who could 'step' and they
would dance until their moccasins wore out.

Traditional attire optional - This is an Alcohol-Free Event

Menu and Cultural Performance

Cranberry Mousse
Ballad

Pemmican Soup
Poetry

Smoked Fish, Beaver and Muskrat Pate, Beaver Tail, Chilled Moose Nose
and Buffalo Tongue
Traditional Fiddle

Blueberry Ice
Fashion Show

Rabbit and Tourtieres
Historical Monologue

Wild Mint, Labrador and Burdock Teas
Reading

Fricassee Moose, Fiddle Heads and Cat Tails
Opera

Roast Buffalo and Root Vegetables
Red River Jig

Dandelion, Fireweed, Thistle and Chickpea Salads
Classic Violin

Dessert

Old Time Dance
Danny Parenteau

Midnight Lunch
Leftovers, Saskatoon and Blueberry Pies
Coffee and Tea

Source: PDF http://www.naisa.usask.ca/docs/HalfbreedBall.pdf
http://t.co/Iuf0eHngo8