National Aboriginal Day continues to grow in prominence
City to work toward reconciliation, new education program for staff
First Nations drummers; dancers dressed in intricate, brightly coloured regalia; Métis fiddlers and an Inuit throat singer offered a glimpse Friday into the rich cultures of indigenous people in Alberta at an early National Aboriginal Day celebration.
While National Aboriginal Day is an opportunity to celebrate indigenous culture, it’s also about reconciliation, Alberta Indigenous Relations Minister Richard Feehan said at the event hosted by his ministry.
It’s a sentiment that rings true for Erica Papin, a member of the Alexander First Nation.
“I think it’s necessary for people to understand our culture … I got bullied for being native because people didn’t understand my culture,” she said, thinking back to her experiences in elementary school. “It really tore me down.” As National Aboriginal Day grows in prominence each year, there’s more appreciation of indigenous culture, greater understanding of the wrongs perpetrated against indigenous people and less stereotyping, Papin said.
June 21 will mark the 20th anniversary of National Aboriginal Day in Canada.
“In the past two decades, National Aboriginal Day has played an important role in growing awareness of the need for reconciliation,” Feehan said. “We want to find ways to heal and to redress past wrongs and to move toward a better, brighter, future.”
Part of that will include participating in the national inquiry into missing and murdered indigenous women and updating Alberta Education curriculum to better reflect the history of indigenous people, Feehan said. The City of Edmonton, home to the second largest population of urban indigenous people in Canada, has also pledged to work toward reconciliation, city Coun. Bev Esslinger said.
As part of that process, the city is implementing a new education program for city staff to create a greater understanding of the history and effect of residential schools.
The Canadian government created the residential school system as part of a policy of assimilation. Children were forcibly removed from their families and sent to church-run schools where abuse was widespread.
“As the youngest and fastest growing segment of our population, indigenous people will be the drivers of our future workforce and our economy,” Feehan said.
“The success of indigenous people, our future chiefs and elders, will strongly influence the success of Alberta.”