Lloydminster Mayor Gerald Aalbers was celebrated as an honourary member of the Midwest Indigenous Society by Society president, Crystal Miller, during a news conference to announce a new membership for non-Indigenous people called Indigenous Allies. Geoff Lee Meridian Source
Lloydminster Mayor Gerald Aalbers is the first honourary non-Indigenous ally of the regional Midwest Indigenous Society.
He was presented with a recognition certificate from Indigenous Society president, Crystal Miller, who announced the new level of membership for non-indigenous supporters like Aalbers at its Lloydminster office last Friday.
“I’m honoured. It’s a real honour to represent the city because it’s really the city from that perspective,” said Aalbers.
“We’re trying to make the city a better place. We can’t do it alone and we need groups like this to make the city a better place.”
Miller says the Indigenous ally membership is for people in the community who want to support Indigenous people by way of volunteering and spreading awareness as a step toward truth and reconciliation.
“I think mostly because of the uncovering of mass graves and the missing and murdered (Indigenous) women, that all of these Indigenous issues have come to light and Canada’s heartbroken,” said Miller.
“People want to understand Indigenous people better and make those relationships, so what we’re doing is going to bridge that gap. We’re extending our hand.”
An application for an Indigenous ally membership is available on the organization’s website.
Miller says the new membership fits the Indigenous Society profile as being community oriented and inclusive just like its parent group, the Association of Métis, Non-Status and Status Indians, Saskatchewan (AMNSIS).
“Because our parent group AMNSIS is very big on kinship, that’s why we represent First Nations, non-status, Métis and Inuit. We keep families together under the same membership,” explained Miller.
She reported AMNSIS president, Charlene Lavallee will be at United Nations until April 28 representing the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples and gives the new membership program a thumbs up from a distance.
Miller also took the opportunity to dispel rumours in some Indigenous circles that belonging to the Indigenous Society could jeopardize their memberships elsewhere.
“They’ve felt that they wouldn’t be able to get a house or have the benefits that Métis Nation Saskatchewan gives if they joined up, but that is very wrong,” stressed Miller.
“Under our Charter of Rights and Freedoms, we have the right to freedom of association. That means you can belong anywhere and nobody can tell you you can’t.”
Miller says because they have a lot of things coming up locally they are going to be big and people are going to want to be a part of that.
“They are going to want to reap the benefits of being a member,” she said.
The Indigenous Society chapter has 150 members and is working with the city to apply for grants to expand, advertise, hold events and raise awareness.
“That’s basically what we’ve been doing, strengthening our relationship with the city and the mayor,” said Miller.
“We have the best mayor you could ever have because he has shown so much support, more than any other mayor.”
Miller thinks Lloydminster is setting an example for other communities of how much their city can be involved with Indigenous people in the spirit of truth and reconciliation.
Aalbers says those ties will likely grow stronger through its involvement in Heart of Treaty 6 Reconciliation, citing the Indigenous Economic Summit as an economic ‘call to action’ in Northwest Sask.
“The city has been a sponsor from the beginning, working with the Chamber of Commerce, trying to build those relationships that existed long before the city,” said Aalbers, going back to the fur trade.
“By connecting more groups together we get much more efficiency.”
Miller envisions the Indigenous Society as “a big family” that supports one another.
“We want to have education programs, trauma-informed programs to deal with residential schools or intergenerational trauma. We have our street program Tawaw Outreach,” she said.
“I feel we are already making a difference. We’re excited, we’re on fire; we want to take over this city with purpose and just make it better for everybody.”
The Indigenous Society is also planning to release details in the coming weeks on a planned summer cultural event in the city.
