Attendees at the Galt Museum for the National Indigenous Peoples Week kick-off on Monday (Lethbridge News Now)

By Justin Goulet

National Indigenous Peoples Week

Galt Museum feast kicks off National Indigenous Peoples Week

Jun 18, 2019 | 7:40 AM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – The Galt Museum & Archives was filled with eager participants for the kick-off of National Indigenous Peoples Week on Monday.

Events taking place across Canada this week will celebrate the history and impact Indigenous people have had on the country. Monday’s event featured speeches, a welcome feast and traditional dancing.

Blanche Bruisedhead, the Blackfoot Cultural Interpreter at the Galt Museum, said it’s a very important week with a wealth of activities planned locally in Lethbridge.

She said a lot of work has gone into the week.

“What we try to do is highlight First Nations peoples, Indigenous peoples that lived in this neck of the woods, so to speak, for thousands of years,” she said.

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“We try to highlight our cultures, the First Nations, Métis and the Inuit to just name a few. The mainstream society here in southern Alberta will get to understand that we are a very intricate part of the makeup of southern Alberta.”

She added that understanding someone else’s culture can go a long way towards reconciliation.

Blanche Bruisedhead speaks to the crowd (Lethbridge News Now)

“The more we try to help the non-Native people to understand our culture (and) some of our activities such as the dances … are not just pulled out of the clear blue sky. These come from thousands of years of activities (tradition) and they have their own stories, they have their own songs, rituals and ceremonies. We got them from Mother Earth,” she said.

“We just didn’t pull feathers together and whatnot, they (traditional activities) are such an intricate part of our culture and what our culture is based on. The more we can showcase and teach the other peoples that share the Blackfoot territory, which Lethbridge is located on, I find that it will be a much better world to live in and raise our children and grandchildren.”

Bruisedhead said the week is a great opportunity for visitors to check out Lethbridge and take part.

“I think they’ll be pretty tuckered out by the end of the week if they follow all the different organizations. They won’t have a boring day here in Lethbridge,” she remarked.

Events this week include an Elder’s Tea hosted by Interfaith Food Bank on June 18 and the Métis Kitchen Party on Thursday, June 20 at Interfaith. A full listing of events can be found at galtmuseum.com.