Nowak explained, “We always hear about the tragedies, and we hear about all the grief that is in our community. Today is really about learning about our culture, about celebrating our culture, celebrating the diverse different nations that live in Lethbridge, and it really puts a focus on what we like to do, and that’s coming together as a community and laughing and celebrating.”
At the very same time as the opening events occurred, a tipi was raised at Galt Gardens in a cooperation with Lethbridge College.
Galt Gardens is likewise playing host to several occasions as part of National Indigenous Peoples Day events, consisting of a family centre with kids’ activities, horse painting and a calling event, dancers and drummers, and Hand Games, to name a few.
On June 22 and 23, extra occasions will be happening at Fort Whoop-Up, Interfaith Food Bank’s Indigenous Healing Garden, and the Galt Museum, as highlighted on the City of Lethbridge website.
Kirby Smith, among the directors of the Blackfoot Confederacy Tribal Council, said, “It’s a great honour for us to have that kind of recognition, not only from the City of Lethbridge of course and from the communities, but across the country, the federal and provincial governments have all recognized [Indigenous Peoples] Day as an important day to celebrate and to acknowledge.”
He included, “At the cornerstone of all that, in my view, is that its a reminder that we need to continue to work together, and that we need to continue to look at some of the challenges, as I mentioned, that face our communities and to try to overcome some of the difficulties that our people are facing, [like] opioids and homelessness.”
National Indigenous Peoples Day has actually been acknowledged in Canada considering that 1996.
LEARN MORE: Lethbridge News Now.
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