Red Deer to mark Truth and Reconciliation Day with free Sept. 30 gathering
Events run from a morning pipe ceremony to an evening round dance, with a new community film project feeding into a December museum exhibit.
The Red Deer Museum + Art Gallery will host a free Community Gathering for ReconciliACTION on Wednesday, Sept. 30, to mark the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. The day starts at 8 a.m. with a pipe ceremony at the reflection tipi in Heritage Square.
From 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., the museum will offer storytelling, films, Indigenous games and art-making, while a free barbecue runs from 1 to 4 p.m. at Heritage Square. The day closes with a community round dance from 6 to 9 p.m. at Festival Hall.
New this year, attendees can take part in a community film, sitting before a camera to share what living on Treaty 6 and 7 lands means to them. That footage will be featured in the museum's "We Are All Treaty People" exhibit, opening Dec. 4.
Chandra Kastern, executive director of the Red Deer Museum + Art Gallery, said the exhibit depends on community members' contributions and thanked the City of Red Deer's Community Culture Development Fund for supporting the work. Miranda Cardinal, executive director of the Urban Indigenous Voices Society, also credited the federal Commemorate Canada program and said the day is about the community coming together to share food and listen to one another. Organizers say everyone is welcome to attend.
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