In the corner of the National Indigenous People’s Day celebrations was a woman with a cooler. She was handing out bottles of water to anyone who wanted one, free and with no obligations. She probably saved someone’s life.
That sounds like hyperbole, but anyone at the event will likely understand exactly what I’m talking about. It was hot out, extremely hot in fact. There was a ton of activity going on and a lot of people in the park. It’s the exact scenario where someone could easily become dehydrated or overheated. But there was a handy person with a bunch of water for the taking. In the intense heat, that’s important.
Also important? The MC that was reminding people to take a drink, especially dancers who were doing some pretty intense physical activity in heavy regalia. It’s easy to forget to take a drink, but there was always a reminder that you can, and should, drink as much as possible on this hot summer day.
It was a day of celebration, it was a day highlighting the strengths of Indigenous culture, and it was a day when nobody was lacking for hydration.
Why am I doing an entire column on what seems like a relatively minor part of the day overall? It’s because it’s something not everyone is thinking about. Water bottles aren’t always a priority when people go out to enjoy themselves.
Sometimes people are rushed, sometimes people just don’t think ahead, sometimes people are focused on something else to such a degree that they forget about some of the other things they need. Water feels like something that’s kind of minor, that we don’t think about when we’re about to set out for the day, that we might not necessarily prioritize. That’s also why it’s incredibly important when you’re planning an event like this. You have to think about the things people forget they need.
On a day like Jun. 21, you needed water, there was no getting around it. It was too hot to do anything without a drink at the ready. And the event had it right there, anticipating what you need.
The event overall was excellent, the organizers put on an afternoon in the park that Yorkton can be proud of and should already be anticipating next year. It was excellent for reasons beyond the easy to access hydration, make no mistake, the organizers did everything right. But I wanted to highlight a relatively small detail because it’s more important than people might give it credit for. It might not be why people came to the park, but it was why everyone could leave happy, healthy and hydrated.
It’s also a reminder for us during the other hot days of summer that we are going to encounter soon. It’s going to be hot, so take a bottle of water; there won’t always be a woman with a cooler handing it out.
