A sacred ceremony reserved for only the most symbolic commitments took place at Fort Calgary on Wednesday morning.
A pipe ceremony happened in the very space Indigenous ancestors once gathered. Elders and newcomers engaged in a ritual designed to demonstrate solidarity and trust.
Elder Casey Eaglespeaker said there is hope this ceremony will build trust between Indigenous people and newcomers to this country.
“This pipe ceremony is to hold everyone accountable and responsible,” Eaglespeaker said. “Our people are bound by that and can’t break it now — it’s stronger than a signature on a contract.”
Cameras aren’t allowed to film or capture the culturally sensitive pipe ceremonies. The cherished ritual sealed an agreement between newcomers and the Indigenous communities.
“This document creates the truth-telling stories,” Eaglespeaker said.
“Education got us into this and education is going to get us out of it. This document will be the education piece to get us out.”
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The document at the centre of the ceremony has a purpose, a promise to increase awareness and create more meaningful interactions. Francis Boakye is with the Centre For Newcomers and has been working to facilitate this agreement for months.
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“We understand there is some commonalities in our history when it comes to colonization,” Boakye said. “Some of us are colonized, so there is shared trauma and shared injustices with Indigenous people.
“This is an agreement that binds us together and we are committed. We are not forced but committed to ensuring work goes well.
“Sometimes, from newcomers, we hear narratives that are wrong and we sing the same tunes. It was imperative for us to have a common ground.”
Hal Eagletail, a cultural leader in the Tsuut’ina Nation, took part in the pipe ceremony.
“All of our shadows are the same colour and it doesn’t differentiate between race, language or colour… This is a reminder to us we are blessed people living in harmony,” Eagletail said.
The pipe ceremony was also intended to heal from the history of residential schools.
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“No child should witness what I witnessed — those harsh memories,” Eaglespeaker said. “People tell me the Creator protected me from those memories, and I might not be here had I remembered those.”
The agreement also vows to hold community dialogues and organize trips to Indigenous sites and encourage new teachings of the past.
“This process was an example of authenticity, and we are building something beyond our generation, and it goes beyond today,” Boakye said.
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