With its origins dating back to the 1980s, the university’s annual powwow is held to celebrate the academic success of Métis, First Nations and Inuit graduates from the University of Saskatchewan (USask) and local secondary schools. The powwow is also a time to celebrate the Indigenous community and culture at USask and around the province. This is the largest annual Indigenous event held by the university and attracts over 2,500 participants each year.

In partnership with

The 2019 Graduation Powwow will take place in the new Merlis Belsher Place rain or shine.

9:30 am	Grand entry and honouring of USask graduates
11 am	Youth dance and drum competition
12 pm	Honouring of high school graduates
12:35 pm	Creeland Dancers exhibition
1 pm	Teen and adult dance and drum competition
10:30 am – 12:30 pm and 1 – 3pm	Education area open in the Ron and Jane Graham Gymnasium
11 am, 12 pm, 1pm, 2 pm	Interactive educational sessions in the Ron and Jane Graham Gymnasium

Arena Directors: Tim Eashappie Sr. and Ryan Bugler

Emcee: Sanford Strongarm Sr.

Head Dance Judge: Laryn Oakes-Yazzie

Head Singing Judge: Preston Gamble

Head Dancer – male: Roland Duquette 

Head Dancer – female: Khoniss Wuttunee

Host Drum: Poundmaker

It takes the commitment of over 200 volunteers to make Graduation Powwow a success.

Sign up to volunteer

• A volunteer t-shirt will be provided at the orientation session. If you have a yellow volunteer t-shirt from a previous USask event we encourage you to reuse it. 

Volunteer Orientation:

Attendance at the Volunteer Orientation session is mandatory. Mark your calendar and please join us at one of the two sessions:

• Tuesday, May 28 at Gordon Oakes Red Bear Student Centre:
  12 – 12:30 pm volunteer orientation (mandatory),
  12:30 – 1 pm Powwow 101 (voluntary). Please bring your own lunch.
  
  
• Thursday, May 30 at Merlis Belsher Place in the Smukers Lounge:
  10 – 10:30 am volunteer orientation (mandatory),
  10:30 – 11 am Powwow 101 (voluntary).
  If you are unaware of the location of the lounge, meet at the front of Merlis Belsher Place entrance and someone will escort you to the orientation.

A lunch voucher will be provided to those who volunteer for 1.5 hours or more on Friday, May 31 at the volunteer check-in table.

• Volunteer manual

Students of all ages are welcome to attend the powwow! Please have one person from your school register all students who plan to attend.

• School registration

There is $26,000 in competition and day pay at the USask Graduation Powwow.

The Graduation Powwow Committee requires all competitors over the age of 16 to supply their Social Insurance Numbers (SIN) or Social Security Number in order to receive payments. SINs will be taken at the registration table when you check in the day of the powwow. Please do not include your SIN in your online registration.

• Online Registration
• Printable Registration Form

The expo is a great opportunity for you to promote your organization and engage with powwow attendees, and for artisans to market their products.

• Businesses, non-profits, vendors expo registration
• USask units expo registration

There will be a free shuttle on Friday to Merlis Belsher Place. It will run between 9 am and 4:30 pm and pickup and drop off at shuttle stops around campus once an hour. It will leave Merlis Belsher Place on the hour and may take up to 20 mins to reach each stop.

Graduation Powwow is a public event that may be photographed, video recorded or streamed on the internet. By attending this event, you are giving the University of Saskatchewan permission to use any photo or other media in future promotional materials.

2018 Graduation Powwow

2017 Graduation Powwow