ELK POINT - Five flags were proudly hoisted aloft at the Elk Point RCMP Detachment on National Indigenous Peoples Day, June 21, as a drum group in front of a teepee bearing RCMP symbols and where a pipe ceremony had been held earlier, sang an honour song.
The flags of the Métis Settlements and Treaty Six Territory fluttered atop a pair of newly installed poles beside the Alberta, Canada and Elk Point flags as dignitaries circled in front of them in a round dance before coming forward to give their perspective on this special occasion.
Treaty Six Grand Chief Vernon Watchmaker of Kehewin Cree Nation, Frog Lake First Nations Chief Greg Desjarlais, Karen Telford, representing Fishing Lake Métis Settlement, North East Region RCMP Inspector Lee Brachmann, Town of Elk Point CAO Ken Gwozdz, and County of St. Paul Reeve Steve Upham all took turns at the microphone before the flags were lowered to half-mast, in memory of both the police officer lost in Saskatchewan and the children who perished at residential schools.
