Indigenous Peoples Day events kicked off with an opening ceremony at City Hall on June 21, 2023. (Video: LNN)

By Christian Oldale

City of Lethbridge recognizes National Indigenous Peoples Day

Jun 21, 2023 | 1:40 PM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – Wednesday, June 21, 2023 is National Indigenous Peoples Day, and the City of Lethbridge has recognized the day by holding events throughout the entire week.

The events on Wednesday morning kicked off at 10 a.m., with an opening ceremony outside of City Hall, featuring multiple speeches, an opening prayer, and a drum circle.

Echo Nowak, Indigenous Relations Specialist with the City of Lethbridge, spoke at the event. She said the day and week provides a chance for the public to learn about Indigenous peoples.

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.”

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At the same time as the opening ceremonies took place, a tipi was raised at Galt Gardens in a collaboration with Lethbridge College.

Tipi put up at Galt Gardens for National Indigenous Peoples Day, June 21, 2023. (Photo: LNN)

Galt Gardens is also playing host to multiple events as part of National Indigenous Peoples Day celebrations, including a family centre with childrens’ activities, horse painting and a naming ceremony, dancers and drummers, and Hand Games, among others.

On June 22 and 23, additional events will be taking place 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, one of 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 added, “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 been recognized in Canada since 1996.

READ MORE: Lethbridge News Now.

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