Barrier Free Manitoba

Burton Bird, Canada’s first Deaf Hoop Dancer has agreed to share his gift of dance at the reception being hosted by Barrier-Free Manitoba on October 29 at the Legislative Building Rotunda.

Those who attended the splendid ART + BODY event earlier this month have already had the great pleasure of Burton’s hoop dancing. We are so pleased that he will help us celebrate making disability-rights history in Manitoba.

Of course, Burton has already made history. From northern Saskatchewan, Burton is a member of the Montreal Lake Cree Nation. Burton lived on the Montreal Lake Reserve and attended public school there until he was a sophomore in high school. When he was 17 years old he went to Saskatoon, for a hearing evaluation and saw Deaf students using ASL for the first time. He decided that he wanted to learn ASL. He then began attending the school for the deaf half a day and an Aboriginal school for the other half of the day. Burton made many new friends at the school for the Deaf and began learning about hoop dancing while at the Aboriginal school.

Click here to his recent perfomance at the 2012 World Deaf Athletics Championships that was held in Toronto.

For the last 20 years, Burton has traveled across Canada and the United States performing his Hoop Dances at Pow Wows, First Nations ceremonies and special events.

Please join us on and help make Manitoba history:

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Barrier-Free Manitoba Pre-Meeting Reception
4:30 pm, Tuesday, October 29, 2013
Rotunda, Legislative Building
(Please RSVP at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/the29th)

The Standing Committee on Social and Economic Development Meeting
6:00 pm
Room 255 Legislative Building

See you there!