The event sought to celebrate the heritage of Indigenous cultures and the Coeur d’Alene Tribe’s commitment to supporting community.
WORLEY, Idaho — Native American Heritage Month may be coming to a close, but the Coeur d’Alene Casino Resort Hotel continued its celebration with its “Winter Blessings” event that highlighted Indigenous culture and community giving.
The event featured a presentation by Laura Grizzlypaws, an Indigenous advocate, dancer and storyteller from British Columbia, Canada and a member of St’át’imc heritage.
“We are all people of the land,” Grizzlypaws said in her Indigenous language as a greeting to the crowd.
Grizzlypaws’ presentation included a performance of the Grizzly Bear Dance, an explanation of grizzly bears’ significance and a telling of the creation story. Grizzlypaws said that the Grizzly Bear Dance and its accompanying stories are central to her heritage.
“The story work of Grizzly Bear is really about bringing back the creation stories of who we are and where we come from,” Grizzlypaws said.
The event also included a message about the importance of cultural preservation. Grizzlypaws emphasized the need to protect the grizzly bear, an animal symbolic of her people, as part of a broader effort to ensure the survival of Indigenous cultures.
“The importance of how far we’ve lost cultural traditional value or principles and how far back it is we need to go to those basic teachings,” Grizzlypaws said.
While dancing and storytelling were central to the event, Winter Blessings also served as an opportunity for the Coeur d’Alene Tribe to give back to the community.
Yvette Matt, the casino’s marketing director, explained that the event ties in with the tribe’s longstanding tradition of charity.
“We start it in November because November is Native American Heritage Month, so it blends our culture with our core tradition of giving and helping and sharing,” Matt said.
The casino announced plans to donate $1,000 each to 10 local charities and $500 gift cards to 20 individuals in need. Nominations for the charities and individuals will be accepted through the casino’s website.
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