There was a large show of support for the walk to support the people of Ukraine at a rally in North Battleford in March. (Angela Brown/battlefordsNOW Staff)

By Angela Brown

A year to remember

Year in Review: Support for Ukraine, cross-country walk for MMIW among top stories

Dec 26, 2022 | 5:03 PM

As 2022 draws to a close, battlefordsNOW is taking a look back on some of the most important and impactful stories of the year.

The past year was one of many changes in the Battlefords and around the world.

When Russia launched a war on Ukraine in February, the Battlefords community came together to show their support with a rally for the people of Ukraine in March.

Battlefords MLA Jeremy Cockrill, North Battleford Mayor David Gillan, and Battleford Mayor Ames Leslie joined Battlefords Ukrainian Canadian Cultural Council (BUCCC) president Paul Kardynal to show their solidarity.

“We have a large Ukrainian population in the Battlefords, and they bring a lot of value to our community,” Cockrill said. “Certainly, as a provincial government, we stand with the people of Ukraine during this conflict.”

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Many people in the Battlefords also have relatives in Ukraine they continue to worry about.

During the rally, the BUCCC announced they started fundraising to help people.

Krista Fox, centre, with Diane Morin, left, and Lindsey Bishop, right, in February. (Angela Brown/battlefordsNOW Staff)

It was a moving time in February when North Battleford advocate Krista Fox embarked on her cross-Canada walk to raise awareness of the issue of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW). Fox also walked the corridor of Highway 16 known as the Highway of Tears, where a high number of Indigenous women have gone missing or been found murdered over the past 50 years.

Fox started her walk across the country joined by Lindsey Bishop, the sister of Saskatoon woman Megan Gallagher, who had been missing since September 2020. Remains found in the river near St. Louis, Sask., in September of 2022 were confirmed as Megan Gallagher in November 2022.

Diane Morin, the mother of Ashley Morin of Ahtahkakoop Cree Nation, who has been missing from North Battleford since July 10, 2018, also took part in Fox’s walk. Lindsey’s husband Derek Bishop participated as well. Fox said during the walk she was also remembering her grandson, Michael Roy, whom she said was murdered in Saskatoon in 2020. Fox finished the walk in September of 2022.

In addition to the cross-Canada walk, a separate three-day walk from Saskatoon to North Battleford was held in July to raise awareness that Ashley Morin is still missing. This was the fourth and final year the Walk for Ashley was to be held, according to custom.

“We’re still waiting for answers. That’s what these walks are for, in the hopes of someone coming forward,” Ashley Morin’s cousin Michael Bird said.

An apartment building was destroyed in a fire in North Battleford in January. (Mark A Parenteau/Facebook)

It was a tragic time for many families in the Battlefords in January when an apartment building went up in flames on the 1400 block of 102nd Street. Numerous local fire departments and the EMS joined the North Battleford crews in responding to the incident. Residents managed to evacuate the building, including several that were taken to hospital with injuries. In total up to around 40 adults and up to 10 children were displaced as a result of the fire.

Keeanu Crookedneck, 22, of North Battleford, received three years in custody after pleading guilty to arson with disregard for human life, in a sentencing hearing in North Battleford provincial court in September.

The other accused, Naomi Jean Yellowtail, 43, is facing a charge of arson with disregard for human life. She is scheduled for a trial in February of 2023. The allegations against Yellowtail have not been proven in court.

Shown, clockwise from bottom left, Krista Fox speaks to guests during a stop on her walk, a powwow dancer dazzles, Mayor Ames Leslie joins in the Round Dance, and dancers prepare for the ceremony in June in the town of Battleford. (Angela Brown/battlefordsNOW Staff)

It was a day to celebrate Indigenous culture when the Town of Battleford hosted its first ever National Indigenous Peoples Day event during a gathering in June. Powwow dancers performed in the afternoon in downtown Battleford, followed by a Round Dance in which town councillors and Battleford Mayor Ames Leslie also joined hands to take part.

“The history of the town of Battleford, and the Fort and other things is one that we’re trying to slowly change, bridge the communities, and help us bring Indigenous and non-Indigenous together to celebrate and move forward on a path of success together, and grow our communities stronger and better into the future as a collective group,” Leslie said.

Clockwise from left, SLSA Museum committee member Mike Waschuk, left, joins SLSA President Heather Maloney at the grand opening ceremony, visitors take part in a tour of the museum, in July. (Angela Brown/battlefordsNOW Staff)

The Saskatchewan Land Surveyors Association (SLSA) celebrated the official grand opening of the SLSA Museum with a special ceremony in July. Located south of Battleford, off Old Highway No. 4, the site briefly opened for two months in 2019. But the official opening was postponed to the summer of 2022 due to the pandemic.

The museum features early land surveyors’ equipment and artifacts that were used throughout the province many years ago.

Pauline Poundmaker, Brown Bear Woman, (Poundmaker Cree Nation) right, accepts Chief Poundmaker’s sacred staff from Genevieve Jones on behalf of Parks Canada during May’s historic ceremony. (Angela Brown/battlefordsNOW Staff)

Parks Canada formally transferred ownership of the sacred staff belonging to Chief Poundmaker to his descendants in an historical ceremony in May.

During the event at Fort Battleford National Historic Site representatives from Parks Canada officially handed over the staff to the Poundmaker family.

Chief Poundmaker Museum curator Floyd Favel said the repatriation of this item is a first step in bringing back Chief Poundmaker’s artifacts to the First Nation.

Clockwise from bottom left, North Battleford Mayor David Gillan, a view of the Independence Commons housing facility, the ribbon-cutting ceremony with supporters and CMHA Battlefords representatives, and CMHA Battlefords branch executive director Jane Zielke de Montbrun at the grand opening in June. (Angela Brown/battlefordsNOW Staff)

The new Independence Commons facility located at 1942 Kramer Place in North Battleford officially opened in June.

The project offers independent supported living to people dealing with mental health challenges or complex needs. The facility includes two single-level four-plexes, offering eight individual suites, green space, as well as a support service and transitional shelter.

Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) Battlefords branch executive director Jane Zielke de Montbrun helped lead the project that was jointly supported through the provincial and federal governments and the City of North Battleford.

North West College launched the Cenovus Energy Simulation Learning Centre in December. Nursing students join, left to right, George Prudat (NW College board of governors chair), Glenn Hemmelgarn (Cenovus Energy), Battlefords MLA Jeremy Cockrill, and Eli Ahlquist (NW College President and CEO), during the ribbon-cutting ceremony. (Angela Brown/battlefordsNOW Staff)

North West College celebrated the launch of the new Cenovus Energy Simulation Learning Centre at its campus in North Battleford in December.

The new health training lab expansion was made possible with a $50,000 donation from Cenovus Energy Inc., as well as support from the province. The funds were used to increase the size of the lab from four beds to ten, and to equip the learning centre with state-of-the-art technology.

North West College president and CEO Eli Ahlquist was thrilled to have the new facility finally complete.

“The simulation learning centre is a space for nursing and other health students to practice the skills they’ve learned in their theory courses, and be prepared to apply those before they go into the hospitals or centres,” he said.

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Angela.Brown@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @battlefordsnow