The City of Regina celebrated National Indigenous Peoples Day in full force with numerous events held throughout the City.
Mayor Sandra Masters was able to describe the celebrations in one word. Incredible.
“Nothing beats the live music and the dancers, but to see all of the people that are out and diverseness of them is absolutely incredible.”
She said that sharing culture through music, dance, and art is unbelievably important in allowing those who aren’t indigenous to connect with those who are.
“When you think about the arts, you think about music, art itself, jewelry; it connects everyone,” she said. “To see young children see this is a connection they look up to. They can admire the talent; they can clap along and try dancing themselves to understand that we are all connected, and we all celebrate similar things.”
It wasn’t just a celebration but also a chance for those affected by residential schools to heal and lead to further reconciliation.
“One of the lessons that we continue to learn is that the residential school system tried to take away this culture and tried to take away the way they danced, the way they sang, the way they played music, the way they celebrated life,” Masters stated. “To see it on display is a sign of reconciliation and to see it celebrated this way is a way to show that there still here, the culture is strong, it’s still beautiful, and hopefully, we’ll just continue to grow, and they’ll continue to share it.”
Masters said that the City still has a long way to go, but they have implemented numerous different things to address the issues of indigenous residents in the City.
“We now have a Director of Indigenous Relations and Engagement. Really shining an internal light on our internal practices on hiring, recruiting, mentoring, and advancing into higher levels of management,” she said. “Reconciliation Regina has been reconstituted to really be a body to represent the community voice to advise back into council and to create really great opportunities.”
Masters added that the City would continue to look at ways they continue further reconciliation.
“It’s about continuing to build relationships and continuing to make space to advance the idea that it needs to be socially, culturally, and economically fair. The City is working on indigenous procurement. Sometime this fall, we hope that the engagements are done, so we can launch that.”
