Nearly 250 people attended Brantford Native Housing’s annual Strawberry Social at Mohawk Park on Tuesday, June 17, 2025
Alma Arguello, Executive Director for Brantford Native Housing (BNH), said that while the organization had hosted the event and other socials for many years previously, this year marked the third annual Strawberry Social since the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We are very, very excited to be here once again,” she said. “For the longest time we couldn’t put this on because of the pandemic, and so we’re happy to continue this BNH tradition not just for our tenants but for the community too.”
Lacey Stevens, a BNH Outreach Worker and Community Coordinator, explained that the event is held as a way to celebrate the gifts of the land.
“It’s a little bit late this year, but we’re officially in strawberry season,” she said. “Strawberries are really the first fruit of the year to ripen, and so there’s a significance there with rebirth and new beginnings, so to have that celebration is so important, especially within the community.”
Jaxon Pamenter, BNH’s summer student and Culture Support Worker, later added that the strawberry is culturally significant to many First Nations people.
“The Anishinaabemowin word for strawberry is ‘ode’imin,’ which directly translates to ‘heart berry’ because of the fruit’s shape,” he said. “So there are many women’s teachings surrounding the fruit and its shape that often gets passed along between generations.”
Throughout the event, attendees had the opportunity to enjoy free Indian Tacos and fresh strawberry juice from CA Culinary Services, and dance along to social songs from Blayze Longboat. In between enjoying good company and good food, many guests also played little games or headed over to the splash pad for a chance to beat the heat.
BNH also raffled off strawberry themed door prizes, including a home decor prize and a gardening prize, while the Survivors’ Secretariat information booth handed out free swag and information pamphlets.
Overall, Stevens said she was happy with how the event turned out.
“We’re so thrilled to have such great attendance today. Our numbers were a little low last year and so we really tried to reach out to the community to get more people involved, and it seems to have worked,” she said. “I’ve seen a lot of familiar faces from our programs, in the community and at our office, but I’ve also been meeting a lot of people who didn’t know who we are. It’s been a great opportunity to spread the message about what we do and how we want to bring everyone together.”
“It’s really nice to see the community come out, not only to support the event, but to also participate,” added Arguello. “We don’t get to have a lot of events for our urban Indigenous community here in Brantford, and so to see everybody coming together with the kids and participating in the singing and in the dancing, and just being able to be together and eat traditional food, it’s really very special.”
Kimberly De Jong’s reporting is funded by the Canadian government through its Local Journalism Initiative.The funding allows her to report rural and agricultural stories from Blandford-Blenheim and Brant County. Reach her at kimberly.dejong@brantbeacon.ca.
