It’s a tool the City of Saskatoon says will help in building partnerships with First Nations in the community.
The city has developed a guide for staff to better understand indigenous culture and practices.
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The guide, titled “ayisīnowak” or “peoples” in Cree, gives staff a basic outline of aboriginal governance models and protocols.
“A lot of time people don’t know what the right protocol is,” Saskatoon Mayor Charlie Clark said. “They don’t even know what questions to ask in terms of having a prayer at the beginning of the meeting or having a pipe ceremony or about the right words to greet people.”
The purpose is to help guide relationship building as the city enters its second year of reconciliation efforts.
“It’s important to understand and know how each race and religion has their protocols,” Chief Bobby Cameron, with the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations (FSIN), said. “It’s important; because we have to understand one another to respect one another.”
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The guide was created by the city in partnership with the Saskatchewan Indigenous Cultural Centre and the Office of the Treaty Commissioner.
Clark believes it’s the first of its kind in Canada.
FSIN hopes the guide will be used to help teach aboriginal culture and protocols in schools as well.