Rain didn’t stop the Lloydminster Native Friendship Centre (LNFC) from hosting its National Indigenous Peoples Day (NIPD) event.
The gathering kicked off with lunch, which drew a large crowd.
“We’ll start with the opening prayer from an elder,” Deborah Munroe, executive director of LNFC, said before the event. “Then we’ll have our lunch and some showcase dancing like First Nations Dancers and Metis dancers, which would be the jiggers.
“We also have a live band that will be playing and we have events for kids.”
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Emcee Grant Whitstone welcomed various speakers, including Audrey Parke, LNFC president, Munroe, Mayor Gerald Aalbers, MP Rosemarie Falk and MLA Colleen Young.
The annual event helps celebrate Indigenous culture.
“Indigenous Day is meant to showcase our culture and be proud of who we are and to celebrate the fact we’re still here,” said Munroe.
It was also an opportunity to bring out various vendors.
“We have an artisan market, a number of vendors coming to showcase and sell their items. They range anywhere from Indigenous medicines to beading and different crafts,” said Munroe, noting NIPD is an important day.
“As Indigenous people, we’re recognized, of course, one day a year, nationally,” she said. “It’s important to our history, to our culture, to reconciliation.
“It’s important we’re allowed to … now allowed to showcase our culture and speak our language and dance our dances and be who we are.”
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