National Aboriginal Day celebrates culture, healing and reconciliation
When Irene Morin addressed the crowd at Edmonton City Centre to give the opening prayer for National Aboriginal Day celebrations Monday, she noticed a lot of volunteers wearing red T-shirts.
“We like the colour red because everybody bleeds red, so we’re all brothers and sisters in this world,” the Enoch Cree nation elder said before delivering a prayer in Cree.
Hundreds of shoppers and spectators, including provincial Indigenous Relations Minister Richard Feehan and schoolchildren, gathered to watch a 90-minute program of traditional dance and music.
“Events such as this provide an excellent opportunity to learn more about indigenous cultures as we move forward toward reconciliation,” he said in a news release.
Representatives were also on hand from the Alberta Native Friendship Centre Association to promote the programs they offer. One is the Moose Hide Campaign, which encourages men to wear small swatches of moose hide as part of a promise to end violence against indigenous women.
Candy Morningway, a manager with the Alberta Native Friendship Centres Association, said the program is a grassroots movement started by an indigenous man in British Columbia. She’s been involved with National Aboriginal Day since it started in 1996 and said the concept of reconciliation has taken a greater role over the years.
“The healing aspect has become greater,” she said. “But the celebration aspect has been there since the beginning.”
Morningway said it’s important, especially for schoolchildren, to understand National Aboriginal Day isn’t just a celebration of culture, but a day about fostering connections and healing.
Morin said the celebration of her culture doesn’t only happen once a year.
“We don’t only celebrate (National Aboriginal Day) once a year,” she said. “We celebrate it every day because we have people who are there for us.”