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A celebration of National Indigenous Peoples Day is being held online Thursday.
Typically, the day would be observed June 21, but the COVID-19 pandemic forced organizers to choose between cancelling celebrations or postponing them.
Brad Bellegarde, the cultural diversity and Indigenous relations adviser for the City of Regina, said this year marks a special anniversary for Indigenous people.
“It has been deemed federally as the Year of the Metis. It’s a 150-year celebration of the Metis so we felt it very necessary to be able to provide something,” Bellegarde told the Greg Morgan Morning Show on Thursday.
Organizers decided to hold the celebration on Louis Riel’s birthday, Oct. 22.
The event included a pipe ceremony in the morning, a slate of speakers and performances by a number of renowned artists.
Bellegarde encouraged people to check it out.
“Just joining a bit, you can listen to some country, some fiddling, some powwow. You can listen to some contemporary music. It’s just a day to recognize the importance of Canada’s significant history,” he said.
Also, it’s a chance to think about building community relationships.
“Take a look from a different perspective at the relationship-building that needs to be done and the work that is being done right now,” Bellegarde said.
“And the beauty of going virtual is we have an opportunity to really allow youth (to) rewatch it and remember … 20 years from now and we could take a look back at how we are diligently trying to build bridges and build a unified nation and become the multicultural capital of the nation like we used to be.”
