Despite heat, thousands of people attended the 45th annual Grand River Champion of Champions Powwow at the Ohsweken Speedway on Saturday, July 26, 2025.
Hosted by First Nations communities, powwow’s are social celebrations showcasing centuries worth of diverse Indigenous cultures with both pride and respect.
This year, around 400 men and women from across North America were registered for the annual competition. Dancers of all ages, including golden age, seniors, juniors, teens, kids and tiny tots, all had the opportunity to proudly celebrate their culture.
Seven drum groups were also participating in the powwow including the Dry Lake Singers, this year’s host drum, as well as Snye Creek, High Tide, Young Tribe, Bear Creek, Free Agency, and Little Creek.
While the tiny tots were just exhibiting throughout the two-day event, participants aged six and up were competing in different styles of dance including: traditional, jingle and fancy dances for the women, and traditional, grass and fancy dances for the men.
“We’ve sort of got two categories of dances happening this weekend. We’ve got the powwow dancing which includes the traditional, fancy, grass and jingle dances, and then we also have what we call the smoke dance competition,” said Charlene Bomberry, co-chair of the Champion of Champions Powwow committee. “The smoke dance is more specific to the Six Nations, Haudenosaunee culture, whereas the powwow dances have become more universal throughout North America.”
On top of the many competitions, another large part of the weekend-long event were the three Grand Entry ceremonies.
During each session, Head Veteran Preston Tonepahhote, led the way and carried in the Eagle Staff alongside the Six Nations Veterans Association and Colour Guards. All of the participants and the head dancers, dressed in their intricate and colourful regalia, could be seen following just shortly behind.
Dennis Bowen and John “Meeg” Snake Jr., co-master of ceremonies, encouraged the crowd to get loud and cheer on the dancers as they made their way into the arena.
“We’re going to be calling upon you spectators all weekend long to keep on sending in those loving vibes and that good energy to really hype up all of our dancers,” said Bowen.
Before the different competitions officially got underway, both Indigenous and non-Indigenous spectators were also invited to take part in the intertribals, and aside from the powerful singers and dancers, the powwow also showcased a total of around 125 food and craft vendors, as well as several information booths.
The weekend’s competitions took place throughout Saturday and into Sunday before the Champion of Champions winners were officially crowned on Sunday evening.
Bomberry, who has been on the powwow committee for 15 years and whose time and commitment was even honoured on Saturday, said that she was happy to see that the event has grown throughout the years.
“It’s been really good to see this keep getting bigger and bigger, and we’re always trying to improve it where we can,” she said.
As far as what her favourite part of the event was? Bomberry’s answer was simple and to the point.
“I just love the whole thing, I really do,” she said. “It’s a lot of work but it’s worth it.”
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.
