Truth and Reconciliation – Bobcaygeon is proud to host Melody Crowe at The Boyd Museum this Saturday October 24th. Melody is a distinguished elder from Alderville First Nation. As an educator, she is known for her passion in sharing her culture and language with people of all ages including students of the Kawartha Pineridge District Schools. Melody will be sharing her insights on Resilience and Mino-Bimaadziwin – Good Life Teachings.
Writer Gwynn Scheltema describes her accomplishments, “She is the recipient of many awards including the Honouring our People Award Sept 2015 from the Ogemawahj Tribal Council and a Lifetime Achievement Award for her work in the Preservation of Language and Culture from the Union of Ontario Indians in 2007. Melody holds an Honours BA in Indigenous Studies from Trent University and, as a student, was the recipient of both the Joyce Moonias Award and The K. E. Kidd Awards from the University.”
An article in Watershed magazine captures some of the flavour and passion of Melody’s presentations.
Melody’s roots in the community run deep, and her family connections stretch wide. Chances are if your name is Crowe, you are related to her. “If there’s a Crowe in Alderville, that’s one of my Crowes!” she confirms, laughing. A cousin’s son is Cale Crowe, the well-known musician. “I got to grow up so rooted in my identity and with a strong sense of home, I never wanted to go anywhere else.”
She was raised by an extended family, including her mother and grandparents, Lucy and Borden, who naturally took on the roles of being Mum and Dad. “They truly set the foundation for my growing up. When I was little, I loved to hear their stories, and the ways that they so strongly connected me to our family and community history.” Her great-grandfather was Fred Simpson, the Olympic runner (who was profiled in the Summer 2024 issue of Watershed) and he was always a role model for her.
Melody likes to use the word “resilience” when she speaks of the character of the Indigenous people. There are different ways to manifest that resilience; she has chosen to do it through teaching, storytelling and knowledge keeping, and she has taught the Ojibwe language for thirty years.
“Language is a lens that allows us to have a glimpse of how people see the world and what their values are.” The Ojibwe language itself – known as Anishinaabemowin – reflects thousands of years of connection to the land and nature, and the vocabulary is descriptive of that relationship. “Our word for land – aki – is also the root of the word for teaching,” she points out.
Join us at The Boyd Museum on Saturday to hear Melody’s stories and have a chance for a chat with this generous educator. See poster below for details.
