The More You Know

It's interesting to see things you are familiar with in a slightly new light. I've been practicing yoga at the West End YMCA for years now. Most other participants have come and on, even the instructors. On a bright sunny afternoon, one of the instructors organized a vegetarian pot-luck on the rooftop garden at the Y so we can get to know some of our fellow yogis. The 18 or so people who showed up made for a fun encounter. Though upon further thought it's probably only about 10% of all people who practice there which is disappointing.

Everyone brought a dish, though I pleaded cooking ignorance and brought 2 types of vegetarian fresh rolls from White Lotus, a Vietnamese vegan restaurant just up the street at College and Lansdowne. Although I already knew some by name, it was nice to put a name to other recognizable faces and learn a bit of their personal history. So things I learnt at the pot-luck:

• No one is a native Torontonian, let alone grew up in the local neighbourhood. The closest is from Brampton. Everyone came from other parts of Canada and all over the world (Brazil, Japan, Ukraine, etc.)
• Though some live in the neighbourhood, others live farther away in High Park, The Junction, and even across town in Leslieville.
• No one is the stereotypical New-Age yoga hippie, though the Y isn't a hard-core yoga studio like Downward Dog. We have PhD students, social workers, theatre folks, and business people. Some are lucky enough to work in a downtown location.
• The best vegetarian dishes are the substantial ones like Indian tofu curry and Mexican chilli. Freshly baked pretzels with a spicy honey mustard dip are also delicious.
• Fruit salads are tasty but easy to make. I should try my hands at an Asian fruit salad some time. Although depending on the tropical fruit, that might make for an expensive dish.
• Vegan coconut mango ice cream is yummy but it's not ice cream. The coconut milk does give it that rich mouth-feel but without emulsifiers it's just a runny yogurt.
• Fresh Ontario peaches baked with cream and sugar, and dusted with icing sugar is heavenly. Nothing like caramelized sugar and fruit to give you that great smoky sweetness.

Every year, a pow-wow is held at Dufferin Park in late September, drawing Native folks from all over the area but also from the States and other Provinces as well. I always enjoy watching the dances and eating the barbecued food, though I'm usually slightly disappointed that there are no truly Aboriginal dishes to try. But this is the first year that I recall that the emcee explained what each of the dances were.

• The cooks are getting much better at barbecue. The hamburgers were delicious unlike the dried buffalo burger I had a few years back.
• I didn't know scones were fried. In any case, they went well with the chilli.
• Grass dance is the dance from which all other pow-wow dances originate. The dancers wear grass costumes, porcupine quills, and other animal parts to inherit their protective properties. They usually open a pow-wow by blessing the ground, spinning and stomping the grass.
• The other sacred dance is the Women's Traditional. The elder women move stately around the dance circle, sometimes raising up a feather or fan. Everyone stands to pay respect, since in some tribes it is the female elders who choose the clan chief.
• In contrast, the Men's Traditional is more frenetic. Costumed warriors wearing outfits stuffed with feathers, carrying wooden rifles or other weapons scuttle low through the grass to avoid gun-fight and then leaping up, trying to outdo each other in energetic movements.
• Only Fancy Dancers wear even more outrageous costumes and have more energetic moves. This dance came from the Buffalo Bill traveling show era, when Native performers were encouraged to add a little more razzle-dazzle to their act.
• The Shawl Dancers spin around, spreading their colourful shawls for all to see. In the old days, it was the matronly women who wore them to gather berries, and spread them out so the children can sit on them. Now, it is young attractive women who do the dance.
• Women also do the Jingle dance, wearing dresses sewn with hundreds of horn-shaped bells. This dance came from the Lake of the Woods area in North-East Ontario. Maggie White was a sick young girl when her father made for her the first jingle dress. Her illness was cured after the dance. Now, it is requested for any healing needs.
• Chicken Dancers are fun to watch with their feather costumes and head-dresses. They try to resemble the cocky roosters in their head and body movements.
• There are of course inter-tribal dances when everyone is invited to dance. These often turn into a Spot dance where a judge will give a dancer at the end of the dance some money, either because they landed on some physical spot in the circle, or perhaps for the quality of their dance or their smile. Of course, you don't need to wait for a Spot dance to add some money to the pot. During an individual dance, if you get a Fancy from their performance, you can always put some money on the ground in front of them as they move around the dance circle.