Montréal 2025
August 29-31, 2025
For three days, Montreal welcomed a Sawa gathering shaped by memory, cultural dignity, and the strength of a diaspora coming together.
This archive tells the story of the Sawa Convention North America 2025 as a living record: official arrivals, walks through the city, community exchanges, tributes, and celebrations that shaped the Montreal gathering.
Relive the highlights, faces, and shared moments that gave the Montreal Convention its rhythm.
Friday, August 29, 2025
Location: Montreal City Hall – 275 Rue Notre-Dame E, Montréal, QC H2Y 4B7
The first day opened in a highly symbolic setting as the delegation arrived at Montreal City Hall and signed the guest book. This official visit placed the Convention within the civic life of the city and set a tone of recognition for the gathering.
Location: Montreal
After the official welcome, the Sawa presence moved into the main streets of Montreal. The parade turned the city center into a cultural stage, with color, song, dance, and the attention of passersby.
Location: 130 Rue Saint-Pierre, Montréal, QC H2Y 2L7
The museum visit created a moment of respect and listening toward the Indigenous peoples of the territory. It reminded participants that every cultural celebration also begins with recognizing the memories already present on the land that welcomes it.
Location: Old Montreal
In Old Montreal, the morning continued with refreshments and open conversations. Among participants, guests, and hosts, this simple moment created space for introductions, reunions, and the first shared ties of the Convention.
Location: Complexe La Providence
The evening began with a warm welcome, where refreshments became an invitation to dialogue. Conversations moved between generations and delegations, reflecting a Sawa way of making hospitality the first cultural gesture.
Location: Complexe La Providence
Delegations from several cities were introduced with their stories, accents, and commitments. This moment gave a concrete face to the Sawa network across North America.
Location: Complexe La Providence
The traditional attire parade highlighted fabrics, silhouettes, and symbols worn with pride. Each passage showed how clothing can become archive, language, and a celebration of belonging.
Location: Complexe La Providence
Children had their place in the evening through games and activities designed for them. Their presence showed that cultural transmission is also built through laughter, participation, and trust in the younger generation.
Location: Complexe La Providence
Jacques Madiba Eyoum delivered a message of memory and responsibility. His keynote placed Sawa heritage within a longer history, inviting the diaspora to protect its foundations while making them meaningful for future generations.
Location: Complexe La Providence
Music and cultural performances gave the first day a festive close. The performances extended the speeches through rhythm, movement, and the energy of a community glad to be together.
Saturday, August 30, 2025
From 10:00 AM ET
Location: Complexe La Providence
The community symposium was one of the highlights of the second day, bringing participants together for dialogue, reflection and discussions on issues of importance to the Sawa community. The program also featured a cultural interlude performed by the children and a special gathering with the invited traditional Majesties.
10:00 AM ET
The day began with a community breakfast offered to all participants, before the symposium opened a space for reflection on the priorities of the Sawa community in the diaspora. Panels and remarks explored organization, transmission, solidarity, and responsibilities shared across generations.
10:00 AM ET
The children’s interlude brought a cultural pause into the heart of the program. Their participation offered a concrete image of what the Convention seeks to preserve: a culture that is passed on because it remains alive.
Photos coming soon
Afternoon
Location: Montreal
The meeting with the Royal Guests gave Saturday a strong protocol and heritage dimension. The exchanges connected families, associations, and traditional authorities around a shared commitment to continuity.
8:00 PM ET
Location: Complexe La Providence
The Gala Evening was the major celebration of the second day at Complexe La Providence. The evening featured a reception dinner followed by artistic performances and a celebration of talent showcasing the cultural richness and creativity of the Sawa community.
8:00 PM ET
The reception dinner offered a pause for conversation within the evening program. Around the tables, relationships deepened in an atmosphere of respect, extended family, and mutual recognition.
8:00 PM ET
The artistic performances highlighted the range of talent gathered in Montreal. They gave the gala the feel of an open stage, where community creativity was expressed with confidence.
Sunday, August 31, 2025
Location: Parc René-Lévesque
Sunday opened with a tribute to the Sawa Martyrs, in a spirit of remembrance and transmission. This heritage moment showed that community celebration carries deeper meaning when connected to the sacrifices, memories, and responsibilities that came before it.
Location: Parc René-Lévesque – 398 Chemin du Canal, Lachine, QC H8S 4G2
At Parc René-Lévesque, the grand BBQ turned the closing day into an open-air family gathering. Conversations, shared meals, and reunions gave the day a simple and deeply communal warmth.
Location: Parc René-Lévesque
Games, exhibitions, sales, and cultural activities kept the park alive throughout the afternoon. The Convention appeared here in its most accessible form: family-centered, creative, and open to every generation.
Location: Parc René-Lévesque
The official closing gathered acknowledgements, final words, and a handoff toward what comes next. Montreal 2025 ended with a clear conviction: shared memory, stronger ties, and collective momentum are already preparing the road to 2027.
Highest Traditional Authority of the Bakweri — Buéa
His Majesty Dr. Robert Esuka Mbella Endeley is the Paramount Chief of the Bakweri people, indigenous to the foot of Mount Cameroon.
I am deeply honoured and grateful for your official invitation to the Sawa North America Convention in 2025 in Montreal.
Superior Chief of Canton Bell — Douala
His Majesty has reigned since 2012 over the Superior Chieftaincy of Canton Bell, a central cultural institution for the Douala people.
Superior Chief of the Bakoko-Wouri Canton — Douala
Crowned in 2023, His Majesty Érick Jamil Songuè represents a new generation of traditional leaders.
Mohawk Spiritual Elder, Walking Clay Clan
Ka'nahsohon Kevin Deer warmly welcomed the Cameroonian delegation to the ancestral and unceded lands of the Kanien'kehá:ka people.
May this visit deepen the ties between our communities and inspire new pathways of solidarity.
Main Guest Speaker — Cultural Historian and Sawa Heritage Advocate
A distinguished painter, ethno-sociologist and historian of Sawa heritage, Jacques Eyoum Madiba embodies cultural transmission.
Montreal 2025 in Numbers
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