OHSWEKEN Good weather and a chance to reunite with friends were big draws as the Six Nations Fall Fair returned on the weekend after being canceled the past few years because of the pandemic.
The fair’s 152nd edition, hosted by the Six Nations Agricultural Society, opened Friday at the Six Nations fairgrounds in Ohsweken and continued to Sunday.
“We’re just coming off this COVID stuff and it’s hard to get people back in the groove,” said Chris Hill, who was in the Six Nations arena selling draw tickets to raise money for the Six Nations Farmers Association.
“But we’re doing OK. ”
With agricultural displays and contests, a midway with rides for youngsters, live music and food trucks, the fair offered fun for all.
A booth in the arena for Three Sisters’ Beadwork drew interest with its colorful earrings, necklaces and brooches. Mary Capton, Amber White and Kylie Petahtegoose, each from a different First Nation, came together a year ago to share their culture.
A member of Six Nations, Capton said the three are “growing and supporting each other.” She said they connected through an education program.
“We’re learning from and with each other and we continue to support and push each other in our craft.”
Capton said traditional beading rarely earns an appropriate price for the work since it’s extremely time-consuming. But there are other benefits.
“It’s extremely healing and put me on my sobriety journey where I continue to heal,” she said.
“It’s something I love and makes me feel connected to my culture. The money is just a side piece. I like that people like the work and are wearing it.”
White said each piece of beadwork is both an art form and a story.
“They might appear super simple but there’s a story behind every piece. Beadwork is multi-faceted and complex.”
Outside the arena on Saturday, the horse pull had wrapped up and two families were battling it out in a friendly softball game.
Juno Award-winner Crystal Shawanda was the headliner for Saturday night’s main stage.
Other attractions at the fair included a demolition derby, smoke dance competition, a baby show and competitions for Miss Six Nations and Miss Teen Six Nations.
Jake and Erica Tapp, of Lowbanks, hauled three antique machines to the parking lot to set up a display for the Walpole Antique Farm Machinery Association.
Erica hand-cranked the wheel of a Massey Harris cutter from the 1880s that chopped up corn for silage or animal bedding, while Jake showed a 1915 belt-driven grinder that was cutting hard corn for chicken feed and a smaller grinder producing corn meal.
“This is the kind that would be in a general store so you could go in an buy a couple of pounds of flour,” he explained to a couple of viewers.
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