Multi-talented doesn't seem to quite do it.
Dallas Arcand Jr. is a skilled hoop dancer, an award-winning musician, an up-and-coming singer, a storyteller of Aboriginal culture — oh, and he's also a motivational speaker who wants to create a generation of change. He's also just 20 years old.
Arcand Jr. will be one of the headliners at the Indigenous Awareness Centre at this weekend's Pow Wow Days events in Lac La Biche. He hopes to show the local audiences his traditional talents ... and he hopes to inspire others to reach their goals.
"I want to grow to be as big as I can be and to go as far as I can," he said. "I want to light more candles and leave more candles lit before I leave this Earth."
From the Alexander Cree Nation near Edmonton, Arcand Jr. was a Calgary Stampede powwow dance star at the age of eight, awarded the 2008 Aboriginal People's Choice Award for best flute CD and Best Instrumental. He was also voted the 2008 Alberta Aboriginal Role Model Award. He took the stage with his father, World Champion Hoop Dancer Dallas Arcand Sr. at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, and most recently performed at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, Korea in February.
Since then, the young entertainer has criss-crossed Western Canada on a performance road-map from Vancouver to Banff and all stops in between. It's busy. But it's also what an entertainer needs to create a wider audience, says Arcand Jr. As the entertainer grows his career, he hopes others will follow. With that wider audience, the young man with a Mount Royal College General Studies Diploma majoring in Behavioural Sciences wants to help more people ... and he wants to do it quickly.
"Where do I see myself in 15 years? I have no clue what I'll be doing at 35," Arcand Jr. said with a laugh, seeing the time range as a historic length of time in the life of a high-energy go-getter. "But in five years I see myself going across Canada after I have built up my name and reputation. I want to go to reserves and Aboriginal communities and tell them my my story and give them inspiration for their own goals."
Personal challenges
Arcand has few limits on what he wants to do. And he hopes that inspires others. With such aspirations, Arcand Jr. knows that focus is vital. His own childhood was spent watching his world champion hoop dance father travel and compete. He saw what it takes. He also saw some of the pitfalls and challenges.
"Growing up, I did not grow up normal. Kids I knew would go and play with their friends on the weekend, bike rides and playing. I would go to Calgary or somewhere to watch my dad perform," he said, admitting the lifestyle made him rebel. "I started banging out with inner city kids, the wrong crowd ... I got to a point a the low point of my life."
Despite the troubles, Arcand Jr. also saw the way many hard-done-by people were treated by society in general.
"It hurt me a lot that people would be followed around stores just because of how they looked or what they were wearing," he said. "That is not how people deserve to be treated and that is what drives and pushes me."
Arcand Jr. sees much of the troubles in his own culture stemming from the affects of residential schooling, causing "Intergenerational trauma."
By making the hoops spin and turn into the stories of his culture, by using the hypnotic sounds of his flute and with his own words, Arcand Jr. wants to help to heal the trauma.
"I want to be a a point where I can influence positive change through Canada," he said. "I want to be a leader in our community."
The split between motivator and entertainer is equal in the young performer's life. He sees his role as an entertainer as an outlet to not only entertain, but to educate all cultures.
"I love all nationalities. I love to perform for every single type of crowd. I love entertaining the people and hopefully making their day," he told the POST
Arcand Jr. will be in the Lac La Biche community through the weekend. Arcand Jr. will share the stage with his show partner and "adopted brother" Dakota during the Lac La Biche Pow Wow Days weekend. A full schedule of Indigenous Awareness Centre events — including Arcand Jr., Metis cultural promoter Metis Bev, and veteran Aboriginal singer, songwriter and storyteller Winston Wuttunee — will be available later this week.
