Living Sky School Division held a pipe and flag raising ceremony Monday morning. (Josh Ryan/battlefordsNOW Staff)

By battlefordsNOW Staff

Pipe, flag raising

Living Sky hosts flag raising ahead of Indigenous People’s Day

Jun 20, 2022 | 4:47 PM

Members of Living Sky School Division (LSSD) gathered with Indigenous Elders for a special morning at the division office.

LSSD hosted a ceremonial flag raising on Monday, blessing the attendees and the flags raised outside. This was done for Indigenous People’s Day in order to allow for more attention on the festivities tomorrow, with the Treaty 6, Metis and Pride flags among those raised.

Ronna Pethick, board chair for LSSD, said it’s important to continue on a path towards truth and reconciliation. With campuses throughout the region, there are a large number of First Nations students that attend division schools.

“We think it’s the right thing to do for our students,” Pethick said. “To honour them and their culture.”

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A pipe ceremony took place first, with roughly 30 people participating, which had to be moved inside due to rain. Several Elders gave prayers and spoke to their experiences where they struggled to keep their traditions alive, with some expressing that having the ceremony take place at a school division’s office is something they never thought they would see.

“It’s humbling and I think that we can only do better,” Pethick said.

“I’m excited for our school division as a whole as we move forward.”

Following the pipe ceremony, the flag raising took place out front of the building with a larger crowd. Several singers provided a playing of Indigenous songs as the flags were put in place.

Kehte-ayak Elder Walter Swindler gave the initial prayer for the flag raising and welcomed the crowd.

“It’s always nice to have ceremonies like this one. I like the way it was handled,” he said. “It’s good to see all of you.”

Chief Lori Whitecalf of Sweetgrass First Nation was another speaker and gave note to the excitement of the event for her and the Elders. While several acknowledged there’s still much improvement ahead for repairing relationships between Indigenous communities and their fellow Canadians, Whitecalf and others took pride in the progress made thus far.

“They tried to make us forget our ceremonies, emotions and feelings, but we’re here,” she said. “We’ve proved that today with the Elders that lifted the pipe and said our prayers.”

Moving forward with a busy week of highlighting First Nation culture, there will be several events in the Battlefords, such as the powwow at the WDM Museum. However, Whitecalf noted that residents can come learn about where their neighbours come from anytime.

“Anyone who wants to see where your kids from Sweetgrass live, come out to Sweetgrass,” she said. “Prior to COVID, we had teachers and students from both school divisions come out.”

In order to keep the pipe ceremony sacred, no pictures or videos were allowed to be taken until the flag raising was underway. More information on Indigenous History Month can be found here.

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cjnbnews@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @battlefordsNOW