The Métis flag seen outside of Lethbridge City Hall on Monday, June 14 2021 (Lethbridge News Now)

By Justin Goulet

City of Lethbridge honouring the contributions of the Métis

Jun 14, 2021 | 11:50 AM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – The City of Lethbridge is marking Indigenous Awareness Week.

The occasion is from June 21 to 25 but was kickstarted by a ceremony outside of City Hall Monday morning that saw the raising of the Métis flag.

Pamela Beebe, the city’s Indigenous Relations Coordinator, said it’s “extremely important that Canadians acknowledge the first peoples and the Métis peoples who call this area home.”

“Especially with the recent findings in Kamloops – it’s hit the community and the Métis community extremely hard. So, we need these reasons to come together and share our history, the rich history, share what we do for this city, who we are, that we live here, work here and contribute immensely to this community.”

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Dr. Adam Browning, president of the Métis Nation of Alberta for Lethbridge and area noted that the Métis are a third of the Indigenous population in the local region.

He commented that “it means a lot for the [City of Lethbridge] to take the step to acknowledge that this is Blackfoot territory, but this is also the homeland of the Métis.”

The Métis flag is blue and white and features an infinity symbol. Dr. Browning said that the origins of the flag are disputed, but the first time it was seen was around 1815.

“For me personally, the Metis flag represents two things – the coming together of a people and that we’re a nation that is going to go for eternity, we’re a people for eternity and that’s what it means to us that infinity symbol.”

Multiple people were gathered outside of Lethbridge City Hall for Monday’s flag raising, all wearing masks and adhering to social distancing protocols. Despite the challenges of the pandemic, both Pamela Beebe and Dr. Browning were impressed with the turnout.

Beebe remarked that, “it’s amazing that people came out to support us. I think it’s amazing that you continue to listen to our leaders and our Elders because they have so much rich wisdom to share.”

She’s encouraging all residents to listen to the stories and information from Elders whenever and wherever they can.

Dr. Browning, meanwhile, said the Métis-led events or events in support of the Métis people tend to always draw a strong turnout. He stated that Canada as a nation is making some progress toward reconciliation, but work needs to be done.

He said, “there wasn’t a residential school in Canada – you know, almost all of them had Metis children in there, so we share in the collective trauma of the Indigenous peoples who are dealing with this and we call on the government to show substantial actions towards reconciliation.”

“I think the fact that there is proceedings federally today that are talking about the rights of Indigenous children, you know, speak largely to what the status is of reconciliation in our country. There are positive steps being taken, but much more needs to happen.”

Multiple events will take place for Indigenous Awareness Week, and a full schedule is available through the Reconciliation Lethbridge Facebook page.

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