Cuthand: Christmas brings Indigenous and Christian traditions together

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Christmas in Indian Country is evolving back to our pre-Christian tradition of celebrating the winter solstice. The longest night of the year was celebrated because it meant the return of the light and the days would slowly lengthen and once again spring and summer would come, completing the circle of life.

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Christmas in Indian Country is a mix of Christianity and traditional ceremonies; it is a time of gift giving, gathering together and round dances. Round dances are community events where everyone gathers at the band hall to visit, eat and dance.

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The modern Christian tradition goes back centuries, but the Indigenous tradition goes back thousands of years.

Once I was in southern Saskatchewan and a man from a local reserve took me to a sacred location on top of a hill. He showed me a medicine wheel that was estimated to be at least 3,000 years old. West of the centre pile of rocks were two markers.

The southern rock marked the location of the sun when it rose, and the light crossed the centre of the structure. This was the longest day of the year. The other rock that was placed to the north marked the place where the sun rose on the shortest day of the year.

The medicine wheel was aligned with the stars and marked trade and hunting routes, but it was also a large calendar, and the people followed the course of the sun through the seasons.

The wheel told them when to prepare for the hunts, when to hold the sundance on the longest days of the year and when to observe the winter solstice and the return of the light. At one time these so-called medicine wheels could be found on most high hills, but were plowed under by settlers.

The Christian missionaries spread the story that we were primitive people who worshipped the sun. This narrative was spread around globe and all “primitive” people were considered sun worshippers. This was the Doctrine of Discovery in practice, and it cheapened our deeply held belief system.

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Our people worship the Creator and the life-giving warmth from the sun was part of creation. We gave thanks to the Creator for the world and all its valuable gifts. The course of the sun over the year gave us a calendar to follow. I have been to the tropics where the days don’t vary as much over the seasons. \

The people there take the life-giving warmth of the sun for granted. In these northern latitudes the length of the days are very noticeable and the seasons are much more defined.

The roots of Christmas came from the Roman feast of Saturnalia where they honoured the god Saturn, who was the god of agriculture and abundance. Originally, the feast of Saturn or Saturnalia was a one-day affair celebrated mainly by rural people and farmers.

But later it was appropriated as a weeklong festival of merriment, gift giving and drinking. Sound familiar? Later, the Christians appropriated the feast of Saturn and turned it into Christmas. It was then commercialized and turned into a binge of consumerism.

Today, Christmas round dances are held throughout Indian Country. Every year we also gather for a Christmas meal and a cash distribution from the band office. Now many First Nations are raising their own revenue through businesses or land rental revenue.

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The week before Christmas, the chiefs and councils travel to the cities and we gather as the urban community.

Later, between Christmas and New Year’s Day, the community will gather for the winter round dance and old friendships are renewed. We also travel to other communities to share the season with our friends and relatives.

While gifts and money are exchanged, we can never forget that the best gift is each other. We gather to celebrate the return of the light and greet our friends and relations.

Each year sees the birth of new family members, or the discovery of a long-lost relative taken by the ’60s Scoop. We also observe those who have left us and made their journey to the next world.

So, I wish you all the best of the season, no matter how you celebrate.

Doug Cuthand is the Indigenous affairs columnist for the Saskatoon StarPhoenix and the Regina Leader-Post. He is a member of the Little Pine First Nation.

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