It was a grand coming together for Sweetgrass First Nation on Wednesday as the community celebrated Treaty Day.
As part of the traditional ceremony band members each received a $5 treaty annuity payment from Indigenous Services Canada.
Janice Kennedy, Sweetgrass Treaty Day planner, said due to the COVID situation, the band has not celebrated Treaty Day for three years. It was a particularly special occasion.
“It’s $5 a year. The significance of that is that Sweetgrass signed Treaty 6 and the government made that part of the treaty, that we would get compensation every year,” Kennedy said. “Five dollars at the time I’m sure was a lot of money. Today $5 might seem small for some people. But to me that holds the government [to their commitment to honour treaty] – that’s their promise. I can hold the $5 and say, yes, the government is honouring the treaties. So it has a lot of significance.”
Treaty Day was also a day for the First Nation to take part in family activities, and get together with neighbours. A hot lunch was also provided by Sweetgrass.
The event included an official swearing-in ceremony for chief and council elected last year, which was previously delayed due to Covid protocols.
Chief Lorie Whitecalf said in her Treaty Day speech it means a lot to her to have the community get back together.
“It’s really good to see everybody out today,” she said. “It’s good to see our dancers and singers.”
Whitecalf said she chose to wear orange to remember residential school survivors and residential school students who didn’t return home.
“The government wasn’t able to do what they intended to do with their policies,” Whitecalf said. “You can see that today. You can see our dancers. Our culture lives on. Our ceremonies live on.”
–
Angela.Brown@pattisonmedia.com
On Twitter: @battlefordsNOW