Little Red River Cree Nation introduces Reconnection Week

By Jeremy Appel, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter 

(ANNews) – Following the sombre reflection of Truth and Reconciliation Week, Little Red River Cree Nation (LRRCN) is promoting “Reconnection Week,” which calls on First Nations people to embrace their traditional practices. 

“Reconciliation cannot be only about remembering what was taken from us; it must also be about reclaiming what was never surrendered,” reads an Aug. 27 statement from LRRCN Chief Conroy Sewepagaham. 

Truth and Reconciliation Week occurs from Sept. 21 to 25. Reconnection Week is planned for Sept. 28 to Oct. 2, overlapping with Orange Shirt Day and the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, which both occur on Sept. 30. 

“After a period of reflection, we encourage our people to the places that have always helped shape who we are: our lands, our forests, our lakes, our rivers, and our traditional territories,” Sewepagaham said. 

“This is a week to hunt, to fish, to gather, to harvest, to sit around the fire, to speak our language, to listen to our Elders, to teach our children, and to visit the places our ancestors knew long before we did.” 

His statement notes that colonial policies, including the forced assimilation that Truth and Reconciliation Week commemorates, involved severing First Nations people from their lands, “because our relationship with land is at the heart of our identity.” 

“Our land is more than a place,” the chief added. “It is where our stories live, and it is where true healing can begin.” 

In an Aug. 28 statement, Treaty 8 Sovereign Nations Grand Chief Trevor Mercredi endorsed Chief Sewepagaham’s call to spend a week reconnecting with the community in nature. 

In addition to commemorating the injustices of colonialism and honouring survivors, said Mercredi, Truth and Reconciliation must also chart a path forward by “restoring what these systems tried to break: our connections to our lands, families, languages, cultures, and ways of life.” 

“When our people return to the land, we strengthen generations to follow,” he added. 

More conventional National Day for Truth and Reconciliation programming is also available for those unable to spend the week participating in traditional activities. 

In Calgary, the Confluence Historic Site & Parkland is offering a range of free programming all day, including a circle camp consisting of tipi lodges representing each Treaty 7 First Nation, with each lodge offering different programming, as well as an Indigenous artisan market.

Calgary’s Werklund Centre is also offering Indigenous programming on Sept. 30, with Piikani and Stoney Elders leading a horse dance ceremony, followed by a song transfer ceremony from Antoine Goulet of Young Gun Singers, who has composed a new song for the venue. 

Stoney Nakoda First Nation is participating in a Sept. 30 event at Canmore’s artsPlace, featuring Stoney Nakoda language lessons, a beading workshop and reconciliation panel discussion. 

In Treaty 6, there’s a gathering at Fort Saskatchewan’s Fort Heritage Precinct, including a drum-led community walk and free admission to the Hear Our Voices: Michel People and Residential Schools exhibit. 

Heritage Park in Stony Plain is hosting a Together for Truth and Reconciliation event in the morning, with a presentation from artist Lance Cardinal of Bigstone Cree Nation and a musical performance from Stirling John Band. 

In St. Albert, the former location of two residential schools, there’s an honour walk from Mission Park to Kâkesimokamik/The Healing Garden.