Celebrate National Indigenous Peoples Day tomorrow at Victoria Park
On June 21, National Indigenous Peoples Day, formerly known as National Aboriginal Day, will showcase Indigenous culture to the world through entertainment, guest speakers and fun for the entire family. Hosted by the Saskatoon Indian and Métis Friendship Centre (SIMFC), the day will kick off with a Pipe Ceremony at 7:30 a.m. in Victoria Park. The ceremony is open to the public and is a free event.
A focus on reconciliation is again at the forefront. With the theme, “Planting the Seed”, the third annual ‘Rock Your Roots’ Walk for Reconciliation plants the seeds of reconciliation by honouring survivors and answering the calls of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to grow a more inclusive community.
The walk begins at 9:30 a.m. at Victoria Park and will feature a variety of traditional and multicultural dances, music and performances along the way. The walk winds up at 11:30 a.m. by returning to National Indigenous Peoples Day celebrations (NIPD).
NIPD celebrations begin with food. The SIMFC will serve 2,500 bowls of soup along with 2,500 pieces of bannock. “Soup and bannock is our traditional food and it’s a big reason people come to our festivities. It’s amazing!” says Melanie St. Juste, programs manager at SIMFC. Several different kinds of soup will be offered, along with fruit and cake, to round out the lunch. The Central Urban Metis Federation Inc. (CUMFI) will also be serving hotdogs on site from the barbecue. Speeches from dignitaries will begin at noon as well.
A children’s area by the hill will feature First Nations games such as double ball and offer face painting and cotton candy. Sanford Strongarm Jr., who does youth and adult programming at SIMFC, says there’s no specific age limit for children’s activities, but they will appeal most readily to children in elementary school.
Entertainment place from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m., featuring different jigging groups, fiddle players, pow wow dancers, hoop dancers and singers. Golf carts will be available to transport Indigenous elders and attendees with mobilities issues throughout the site. A number of local officials and dignitaries will bring words of greeting.
A beautiful new feature this year at National Indigenous Peoples Day will be the release of 50 butterflies. May Henderson, executive director of SIMFC, says the release symbolizes freedom. It also speaks to metamorphosis, representing balance, grace and the ability to accept change.
The butterflies were donated by ECHO and will be released individually by 50 different people, probably by children with elders.
On National Aboriginal Day last year, Prime Minister Trudeau announced that, beginning in 2018, the event would be known as National Indigenous Peoples Day, to better represent the culture, heritage and diversity of Canada’s First Nations, Inuit and Métis Peoples. Planners at SIMFC say the name change hasn’t impacted them or the event at all. It wasn’t a change they were looking for. St. Juste says correspondence from the federal government and funding was still transmitted through the National Aboriginal Day designation. For SIMFC, it’s business as usual. Their website provides a link to National Aboriginal Day, not the new name.
Henderson remembers the first NAD in Saskatoon, which involved a one-hour program at the Frances Morrison Library and one small pot of soup. “Then we moved to the river bank and the late Joan Brunkard was very instrumental in helping organize NAD. She worked really well with the Aboriginal community and every ethnic group in Saskatoon.” After many years at Friendship Park, the event moved to Victoria Park. “We all enjoyed doing it because it is such a good feeling celebrating your own culture,” she says.
Strongarm feels similarly. “I get to showcase the culture to the community of Saskatoon. I just love being around Aboriginal and Métis people. It’s like a family.” Strongarm will be dancing as part of the program, something he’s done since he could walk. He’s facilitating the entertainment schedule, while his dad, Sanford Strongarm Sr., does the emceeing. St. Juste loves NAD and says it also helps break down the stereotypes around Aboriginal peoples.
The SIMFC is grateful for the many sponsorships that have helped make National Indigenous Peoples Day possible this year. It’s a day to celebrate inclusion, reconciliation and Indigenous cultural expression.