Welcome To My Table event a huge success!

Every year March 21st marks the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. In 2022 we were able to create 3 travelling ‘Exploring Cultures’ displays which involved a link to a digital survey. Participants were asked questions about their experiences with cultures other than their own. The data collected was used to guide some of our programming this year, including the ‘Welcome to my Table’ event.

We had three expected outcomes for this event, and all were achieved.

First, we wanted to create new awareness and understanding of other cultures and how they share meals. Last year’s survey had shown us that many individuals do not get the opportunity to share a dinner table with individuals from other cultures. With that in mind we assigned seating at this event making sure that each table had representation from several cultures. Our host, Oscar Maluleke, also did an excellent job of sharing information and guiding discussion points throughout the meal.

We were fortunate to feature a couple of cultural dancers as the entertainment at this event. One was a pow wow dancer from Nekaneet First Nation, the other a bhangra dancer from India. Both performers were also able to share some of the cultural significance and history of their style of dance. After both performances we asked the guests to share any similarities that they observed. Our dancers were very committed to this event and remained on stage to try each other’s style of dance. They also invited willing volunteers to join them.

Lastly, we wanted to create an environment for deep discussion about racism and discrimination. Our hosted guided the dinner table discussion by offering information and examples before posing a question for the tables to answer as they enjoyed each course of the meal. Some of the feedback we received from guests was how comfortable they were engaging in conversation in this format. After each course a microphone was passed to guests that were willing to share points from their table’s conversation.

We would like to thank the Multicultural Council of Saskatchewan (supported by Saskatchewan Lotteries through SaskCulture) and Living Sky Casino for helping to fund this event.