Councillor pitched in to resurrect initial protest teepee

When Coun. Andrew Stevens saw the teepee poles come back to Wascana Centre, he felt a rush of energy. But the knowledge of what was about to happen also put him at peace.

“I felt a certain calm, as well, that the teepee was going to go back up,” he said.

Stevens, who represents Ward 3 on Regina City Council, was attending a blanket exercise on Thursday for National Indigenous Peoples Day. He didn’t know that activists at the Justice for our Stolen Children camp had chosen that very day to rebuild their teepee, torn down just days before.

“I’ve been harbouring a bit of guilt for not having been there when the police had come or when the threats of eviction were being levelled against the camp,” the councillor said.

“It just felt like it was time to participate in this thing to make up for not being there.”

So Stevens asked if he could lend a hand. Then he helped put it up. He said he felt like he was at the right place at the right time.

Asked about the Provincial Capital Commission’s view that the teepee is illegal, Stevens didn’t seem worried. He said the teepee “is supposed to be in that park.”

“It’s National Indigenous Peoples Day and we’re putting up a teepee — it’s only fitting,” he said.

He said people in leadership positions need to speak up, take action and support reconciliation.