The Transformative Power of a Powwow | The Social

Added: 2026-06-02

[00:00:00]Welcome back. Our next [applause] guest is an Ojibway author and social worker who uses the power of storytelling to connect urban indigenous children with traditional culture and identity.

[00:00:10]>> Her new children's book, Jenny's Concrete Pow Wow, finds sacredness amidst the noise of the city. Please welcome author Shauna Lee Corbould to The Social.

[00:00:20]>> Good to have you here, Shauna.

[00:00:22]>> [applause and cheering] >> Okay, first of all, Shauna, congratulations on the book. It's a big deal. It's fantastic. I understand the book explores feeling disconnected from culture while growing up in a very westernized urban space. So, how much of Jenny's journey reflected your own experience growing up?

[00:00:36]>> So, I think before I start, I'll just kind of explain what the book is about um and then how it connects with me. So, uh Jenny's Concrete Pow Wow was about a young girl named Jenny and she goes to her very first pow wow, but she's actually raised and born in a city. So, this is her first time kind of connecting to her culture in a a bigger setting, in a pow wow setting. So, when she goes back to the city after experiencing that connection, uh she realizes she's not finding that same level of connection to her own cultural identity in a big city. So, she's trying to figure out how she can be indigenous in a big city. So, this book speaks to my experience, it speaks to my mom's experiences, my aunts, my sister, and my cousins. So, it's kind of a combination of all of our experiences trying to navigate um our own cultural identity uh in an urban setting.

[00:01:20]>> So, Jenny enters her first pow wow reluctantly, but leaves transformed. How much does that mirror your first pow wow experience?

[00:01:27]>> So, I I can honestly say I don't think I remember my first pow wow experience. Um I've kind of had you know, connection with my culture growing up bits and pieces, but I remember the first time I felt like a deep-seated connection and that was uh as an adult actually after I had both of my children and we went to um their first pow wow, which was on my uh reserve in Matachewan. And uh they Yeah, and they felt connected and connected and they wanted to dance and they felt like a that sense of community. So, it was me seeing them uh feel connected where I was like, you know what? I want to continue this heritage and continue my traditions and pass them on to them.

[00:02:03]>> Great. Cool.

[00:02:03]>> Throughout the book, Jenny realizes that the spirit of the pow wow, it stays with her even when she goes back to the to the city. So, what's your relationship with culture and identity living in an urban center?

[00:02:17]>> Yeah. So, I think for the longest time, a little like cringeworthy, but I used to air quote myself when people would ask me about my identity, I would say I'm indigenous.

[00:02:25]>> Mhm.

[00:02:25]>> And it's because I felt like an impostor because I wasn't on the reserve. I wasn't raised there. I didn't have access to a lot of the things they have access to on on the reserve in terms of culture and traditions. So, it was trying to navigate and finding out who I am as a you know, indigenous woman in an urban setting and for a long time again, I struggled with that. I'm still kind of struggling with it, but it's me realizing that it's not a place that makes me indigenous, it's me. So, I am indigenous no matter where I am and that's kind of the message I want kids to feel as well.

[00:02:57]>> Yeah, that's a great message.

[00:02:58]>> Great message.

[00:02:59]>> I love that message. A lot of people feel disconnected from their My name is Miguel Rivas, I don't speak Spanish. So, like I find that a relatable idea. Like how do you identify within that culture?

[00:03:07]>> Yeah.

[00:03:08]>> Yeah. Awesome. All right, so Shauna Lee, the book takes very complex emotions like belonging, disconnection, and identity and makes it easy for kids to understand and digest. How did you translate those feelings into a child's perspective?

[00:03:22]>> Yeah. So, I'm a mom of two young kids. I have an almost 4-year-old and a 7-year-old. So, they were kind of my sample for testing out if I'm what I'm saying makes sense. But for me it was important to try to make sure that the kids voices were heard because, you know, they may be small, but they have big feelings and they may not have words those feelings, but they know what it feels like inside their body. So, I wanted to take those complex emotions and break them down so that kids can be understood and they feel validated in in the book.

[00:03:50]>> Yeah. You you have a master's in social work which gives you a deep understanding of identity and emotional development. How does your work influence the way you write?

[00:03:58]>> Yeah, so right now I'm working with seniors, but I did work do a lot of my earlier years with children and parents.

[00:04:05]So I definitely kind of seeing parents especially trying to bring their children into the culture and and their feeling of almost guilt of not being able to experience that culture themselves and learning at the same time as their children. So I wanted to bring that into the book where it's you know we're teaching and we're learning together.

[00:04:23]>> Yeah.

[00:04:24]>> Well, your hope is that this book will also help non-Indigenous kids become allies, become better allies. What does like really strong allyship among kids look like to you?

[00:04:35]>> I think for kids it's like don't be afraid to ask questions, you know, go and be curious and that's where you're going to learn.

[00:04:43]My papa once told me never say I know because you don't know anything, right?

[00:04:46]So go in with that openness of wanting to learn and you know, stand by Indigenous, you know, classmates or friends and just be willing to stand with them and support them in whatever way you can.

[00:04:58]>> Yeah, wise words from your papa. I like that.

[00:05:02]>> Yeah.

[00:05:03]All right, so right now we have a wonderful live studio audience and people watching. So for any child who feels kind of like lost and searching for their belonging, what do you hope that you or book helps them with?

[00:05:14]>> I think it's letting them know that they are Indigenous enough no matter where they are. So that's what I really wanted this message to be is that whether you're on reserve, you're in the city, you are Indigenous and you are enough.

[00:05:25]So that's what I would like this book to >> No air quotes.

[00:05:31]>> Sonja and Lee, we can't thank you enough for coming by and talking with us. Thank you so much. And you can find Jenny's Concrete Pow Wow on shelves June 9th during Indigenous Heritage Month, but studio audience, you're all going home WITH YOUR VERY OWN CUP.

[00:05:48]YOU HAVE [cheering] A LOVELY DAY.

[00:05:49]>> [applause]