BONNYVILLE – Celebrations for National Indigenous Peoples Day will once again take over the Bonnyville and District Centennial Centre (C2) on June 21.
The Bonnyville Friendship Centre, which hosts the annual event, is excited to announce that 2023 NFL Superbowl performer and Cree Dancer Patrick Mitsuing and his sons will be in the exhibition’s lineup.
“[Patrick] and his sons are Fancy Dancers, so they do put on quite a show,” said Janet Gobert, the director of operations for the Friendship Centre.
The public is encouraged come out and enjoy a free barbecue, shop at an Indigenous Artisian Market, and stay for the exhibition which includes performances and speeches from invited dignitaries.
The full day event will run from 10 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. at the C2.
The featured program and performances will begin at 1 p.m. sharp and will include a Grand Entrance, Métis Dancers, Chicken Dance Champion and emcee Jackson Tahuka and The Cree with its champion dancers and drum group.
“It is gaining steam each year. We already have 900 students that we are accommodating so far,” said Gobert. Many more community members and families are expected to attend.
Each year on June 21, National Indigenous Peoples Day is recognized and celebrated across Canada. Over the course of the day, people are encouraged to embrace the history, heritage, resilience and diversity of First Nations, Inuit and Métis people across Canada.
The reason the Friendship Centre continues to host uplifting and educational cultural events in the community is to embody the centre’s mission, explained Gobert.
“Our mandate has always been to bridge the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people. And the more that we can share as a centre with the community, the more it breaks down those barriers,” said the director of operations. “These positive events make the difference in the community.”
National Indigenous Peoples Day was officially declared in 1996 by then Governor General of Canada Roméo LeBlanc. At the time, the day was known as National Aboriginal Day.
Honouring life
A special guest and one of the program executives of Alberta Health Service's Honouring Life program, Marjorie Luzentales-Simpson, will also be speaking during the exhibition.
The focus of the Honouring Life program is to build capacity in mental wellness, resiliency, healthy lifestyle promotion and suicide prevention for youth in First Nation and Métis communities.
The Bonnyville Friendship Centre has been collaborating with the program over the last four years and was recently named a legacy community.
This year alone, the Honouring Life program awarded $545,210 to the Friendship Centre to carry out cultural youth programs that promote self-esteem of Indigenous youth.
While funding received from the program is strictly for youth programming, the Friendship Centre is finding ways to include the family unit in the fold, noted Gobert. Strong families can help build resilience, a sense of identity and improve overall wellbeing in youth.
The funding from the Honouring Life program also made it possible for the centre to build swag bags for youth attending the exhibition.
Friendship Centre staff are preparing 1,100 bags to give away.
