“You know you are doing something right when the toughest guys in the room are running laps and cheering with the group.”
Every tour has a first stop. For our Yorkton Tribal Council tour, that was Ocean Man First Nation. We did not know exactly what to expect walking in. What we found was one of the best days we have had on the road.
Everyone Was Welcome
From the start, the energy was different in the best possible way. This was not just a school visit. This was a community showing up. Older folks, adults, youth, all in the same space, all part of the same day. That does not always happen, and when it does, it means something.
Drezus opened with a presentation and then we got to work. Hugo set up the printing station and the shirts started moving. By the end of the day we are pretty sure everyone in that building walked away with at least one. Watching that happen, watching people line up and light up over something they can take home, never gets old.
The Moment in the Gym
The evening performance by Drezus brought everything together. The room was alive from the start, but there was one moment that stood above the rest.
Drezus had the entire gym running laps with him.
Not just the kids. Not just the ones who were already locked in. Everyone. And the ones you might have expected to hang back, the ones who came in with their arms crossed and their guards up, they were right there in the mix, cheering and moving with the group.
That is the power of what Drezus brings into a room. He does not perform at people. He pulls them in.
Why This Work Matters
Days like Ocean Man remind us of something important. The impact does not have to last for years to be real. Sometimes it is a minute. Sometimes it is a few hours. But something shifts in a person when they feel seen, when they laugh, when they move, when they create something with their hands or sing along to a song that speaks to where they come from.
We are grateful to Ocean Man First Nation and to Yorkton Tribal Council for making this stop possible. It was the perfect way to begin.
