The flag-raising ceremony to mark the beginning of Reconciliation Week 2022 in Lethbridge, September 26, 2022. (Image: Lethbridge News Now)

By David Opinko

Reconciliation Week kicks off with flag-raising at Lethbridge City Hall

Sep 26, 2022 | 1:29 PM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – Reconciliation Week is officially underway in Lethbridge.

Reconciliation Week involves a series of events connected to the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation in Canada on September 30, 2022. The event honours Indigenous people and commemorates the young victims and survivors of residential schools.

A flag-raising ceremony was held at Lethbridge City Hall on Monday, September 26, 2022. The event also included speeches from several dignitaries as well as drumming and dancing performances.

Mayor Blaine Hyggen says he looks forward to the annual week-long event because it is an opportunity for the community to come together, learn, and find opportunities to celebrate Indigenous culture.

“Reconciliation is everyone’s responsibility and coming together as a community allows us to build stronger relationships, recognize the accomplishments of the Indigenous community and importantly, educate ourselves about the history of Indigenous peoples,” says Hyggen.

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Blackfoot Elder Mike Bruised Head provided the opening remarks at the flag-raising ceremony and a prayer.

“Even within the midst of all the hardships that we’ve gone through from smallpox in the 1800s being put on reservations being put in boarding schools, being eliminated from the employment world, labour force, and just plain discrimination and segregation, that wall is what this is all about. To break down the racist wall, that segregated wall and to live in the community,” says Bruised Head.

While Bruised Head says he appreciates that events like Reconciliation Week are being held, he states that reconciliation with Indigenous peoples should not be confined to a single week. He believes it needs to happen year-round.

He acknowledged that society as a whole is making progress on rebuilding its relationships with Indigenous peoples, calling out Lethbridge College, the City of Lethbridge, and R.I. Baker Middle School in Coaldale as just a few examples of organizations that have gone above and beyond in this regard.

Another step that groups can take in advancing reconciliation, Bruised Head says, is to have Indigenous representation on their boards and committees.

“That is when, you know, [Reconciliation] will truly begin because other than that, it cannot be a false reconciliation statement where we all kind of applaud for one day and then turn our backs on Blackfoot people or indigenous people, you know, it has to be real. It cannot be a phony relationship,” says Bruised Head.

Bruised Head says there are still people out there who are opposed to reconciliation but many who are in that camp are unable to give a thorough explanation as to why. He encourages people who are like this to speak to Indigenous people and to the local Blackfoot elders to gain a greater perspective on their history and culture.