My Experience at the KWE! Festival

The KWE! Festival was a manifestation of the profound respect Indigenous communities have toward one another and toward visitors like me. That spirit of openness shaped every encounter, including a conversation with an Anishinaabe woman who asked about my long uncut hair. In the Sikh faith, hair symbolizes courage and discipline; for many First Nations, it represents a connection to the Creator and to ancestors.

In that brief exchange, our traditions met through shared meaning, echoing the spirit of the UN’s Faith for Rights framework. This moment guided me to a broader reflection: if we can understand the meaning of faith for another community, whether it is a religion little known in Western society, Indigenous spirituality, or simply one that is not our own, that understanding, born of genuine openness, even if as small as a molecule or a grain of sand, can advance human rights in beautiful ways.

In the same spirit, my meetings with Indigenous elders reinforced this same spirit of openness. Devina Vachon, a Pessamit Innu elder, described the festival as an invitation to learn about Québec’s First Nations, an invitation grounded in generosity and cultural sharing. Building on this, another Anishinaabe elder explained that hunting and trapping are taught through “shadowing,” a method rooted in patience and respect for learners. Then, a Pessamit woman shared how a Mi’kmaq youth gifted her a canoe, a gesture that beautifully illustrated inter‑nation generosity among First Nations in Québec. She emphasized that collaboration and listening allow people to truly understand one another.

Together, these moments showed me that respect is not merely spoken about, it is lived, shared, and taught. And they reminded me that openness across cultures inspires everyone involved.

This reflection draws its inspiration from the leadership-based learning method developed by the UN Human Rights Observatory, led by Professor Dr. Pascale Fournier and the entire Observatory team. I am deeply grateful to Fulbright Canada and the KWE! Festival organizers for fostering our distinctive learning environment.