OFFICIAL NOTICE – Blood Tribe Chief and Council/Kainai Powwow Committee
Today, Blood Tribe Chief and Council announced the following changes to the Kainai Powwow and Celebration 2021:
• Powwow – Cancelled
• Rodeo – Postponed to a Later Date
• Hand Games – Postponed to a Later Date
• Relay Races – Cancelled
• Golf – Cancelled
• Softball – Cancelled
The decision was based on information shared in a meeting which included: Chief and Council, Powwow Committee, Celebration Event Organizers, Blood Tribe Department of Health and the Director of Emergency Management. Concerns were raised about the rising cases of the COVID-19 Delta variant on the Blood Reserve. The Delta variant is documented as very contagious in what is being called the 4th wave of the pandemic.
The health and well-being of the Blood Tribe is of the utmost importance to leadership, and with the guidance of our health professionals, the Tribe has been able to maintain low numbers of active cases and outbreaks. Our frontline workers have worked endlessly throughout the past 17 months of the COVID-19 response by providing services like testing, contact tracing and holding vaccine clinics. At this time, we cannot risk putting additional strains on our health system, especially when we are heading into a new school year, and a large number of our children under the age of 12 cannot receive the vaccine. Therefore, we must avoid outbreaks by holding off on large social gatherings for the time being.
We thank everyone who has contributed their time and efforts to planning this event. As much as we all wanted this to happen in September, we must continue to protect our families, friends, children, and elders from this virus.
Although our plans are on hold, we ask that everyone continue to follow public health measures (wearing masks, practicing physical distancing, sanitizing hands), including the Tribe’s Enhanced Safety Measures and get vaccinated to ensure we meet again soon.
