June 21 marks National Indigenous Peoples Day and to celebrate Indigenous folks, Guelphites came together in a flock of about 1,500 to Riverside Park to dance, sing, and laugh together.
“There is so much more to the Indigenous people than just the dancing and this is just a drop in the bucket as to who we are and how we celebrate,” said Jennifer Parkinson, president of the Grand River Métis Council, in an interview.
“There is quite a number of Indigenous people living in Guelph,” said Parkinson. She said there is a strong Indigenous community and it’s important to celebrate National Indigenous Peoples Day.
Parkinson said the event grows year after year and the number of people to join in on the celebrations has closely passed pre-pandemic numbers.
Bruce Weaver told attendees to be thankful and keep in mind the ancestors who came before them.
“There was a time when drumming would have been broken up by the police. The drums smashed. Our sacred items taken, burned,” said Weaver.
Adrian Harjo was Wednesday evening’s emcee, is from Kikapoo and Seminole of Oklahoma but now lives in Six Nations in Ontario.
He described the history and story behind every dance performers shared. Some of the dances and songs go back thousands of years.
The dancers welcomed the crowd to participate in what is called a round dance. “It represents the circle of friendship that we have with many different nations all across Canada, the United States and really all across the world,” said Harjo.
“We're an international people now and we travel all over the world doing these different types of festivals and performances,” he said.
The local celebration of National Indigenous Peoples Day brought together Indigenous and non-Indigenous folks together.
“Archaeological evidence shows that Indigenous Peoples actually lived in this area now known as Guelph as early as 11,000 years ago. And at one point the local First Nations population was actually estimated to be 30,000 people. Of course sadly that population has of course dwindled,” said Guelph mayor Cam Guthrie.
Guelph’s MPP Mike Schriener made reference to the haze in the sky from the wildfires Ontario and other provinces were experiencing. “How important it is if we are going to heal our relationship with mother nature. We have to heal our relationships with each other,” he said.
