Prince Albert residents are set to celebrate the National Indigenous Peoples Day on Saturday, June 21 from noon to 4 p.m.
The Prince Albert Grand Council Women’s Commission is organizing the event. Commission member Sheryl Kimbley said the day is a great chance to shine a light on the positives. “Too many times we focus on the bad in different cultures and this a chance for our people, our beautiful Indigenous culture, to shine and show a little bit of who we are,” Kimbley said. “People with the Prince Albert Metis Friendship Centre, PAGC, the Metis Women’s group, MN-S, the First Nation University—we have so many wonderful organizations, and let’s not forget Northern Lights Casino that’s helping us out as well—we want to give back and share, have some burgers—CUPE will be providing those—have some entertainment, and just enjoy each other’s company and celebrate how beautiful it is for us Indigenous people within the city and beyond.” The Celebration will be held at the Prince Albert Grand Council (PAGC) Urban Services Building on First Avenue West instead of the earlier scheduled venue of Kinsmen Park. In a Facebook post, Kimbley wrote that weather and city policy meant they wouldn’t be able host the event in Kinsmen Park as originally planned. “We just have to make do with the change,” Kimbley said. “We just want to make sure everyone has a good time.” Saturday’s event will also include a number of donations to wildfire victims. Kimbley said the evacuations may be ending, but it’s still important to keep northern residents front and centre.
“As we settled after everybody went home, I fear that we make the mistake of saying, ‘they’re good now, they’re home.’ We’re not there to see that while we’re sitting here in our homes and the smoke has gone away, that all the damage that has been in Northern Saskatchewan is still ongoing,” Kimbley said. “I have friends in La Ronge that are gathering and helping families because literally they’re re-stocking their home. Some of them are rebuilding. We need to get food out to them. We need to get blankets. We need to get all kinds of supplies because some of them are starting from scratch.”
“I don’t want people to forget that we still have work to do,” she added. “Often times it’s all in the news and I thank (the media) for putting that highlight on the communities that needed it, but once the smoke dies down, we need to look and see what else we can do and we need to keep helping.”
Kimbley said it’s always encouraging to see people celebrating National Indigenous Peoples Day in Prince Albert. She said it’s great to see so much positivity.
“Thank you for seeing us and knowing that we contributed in a good way,” she said. “To the businesses that have come and supported us, especially the businesses that are coming to donate items… what a beautiful way to show us inclusion and show us that we matter in this community. It makes me feel really, really proud to work for the Prince Albert Grand Council,
and I thank them for allowing me to make this happen with the great staff and crew that we have.”
editorial@paherald.sk.ca
