National Indigenous Peoples Day a cause for celebration and healing in Regina

“I woke up a little extra excited this morning,” beamed Cowessess First Nations Chief Cadmus Delorme.

“Today is a day you can stand up and be a little more proud to be Indigenous,” he continued.

Regina’s sixth annual National Indigenous Peoples Day dominated the downtown, drawing hundreds of people from all walks of life.

“Seeing this today, and seeing majority non-Indigenous people, it makes me proud that society gets it. Society is wanting to know more and there’s so much more to get into,” said Delorme.

“Look at the people who are here: we have hundreds of people that are here who want to participate and listen and take part in Indigenous people and that’s very important because that’s who we are as a country,” Mayor Michael Fougere pointed out.

Those celebrating were just as eager to teach and share their culture.

“If you just come and let the sound of the drum reverberate your soul, you know you can taste some of the traditional foods, it’s just a great way to learn and observe and meet people and celebrate the culture,” Jenny Matts, a member of the National Indigenous Peoples Day Planning Committee said.

“This is just the tip of the iceberg. Seeing the dancers, hearing our ancestors songs, even eating the bannock, those are just introductory things to the great Indigenous culture that we share,” Delorme added.

The day wasn’t all sunshine and smiles.

Protestors from the Justice for our Stolen Children Camp took centre stage during the police chief’s speech and afterwards spoke with the chief and mayor.

“These are difficult conversations to have, there’s lots of emotion, lots of feeling of injustice, of not being heard, and I acknowledge that, and certainly would say that and that conversation was certainly involved with acknowledging that,” Fougere said.

Chief Delorme said those protests are just part of celebrating Indigenous culture.

“Sometimes when you’re on a healing journey, people will show their emotions in different ways, so you’re going to see what they title as ‘protesters.’ They’re not protesters, they’re just showing that they care and they have a big heart and they want change too,” Delorme argued.

But at the end of the day, everyone was just happy to be there.

“It’s an opportunity to celebrate. For so many years, and for so long we weren’t given that opportunity to celebrate. Now we can celebrate our culture, we can show everybody the beauty of our culture and what it means to be Indigenous,” Nick Crighton, another member of the planning committee said.

“I’m excited for today. I think we need a week, or even a month because there’s so many stories to tell and people to showcase,” added Delorme.