Lac La Biche County observed National Indigenous Peoples Day on Friday, June 21 throughout the region. It is a day that acknowledges the traditions, cultures and contributions of the First Nations and Metis communities of the area.
School kids enjoy and dance in circles to music by a local band called Last Minute
Lac La Biche County Mayor Omar Moghrabi and Deputy Mayor Lorin Tkachuk were also in attendance of the Indigenous Peoples Day celebrations
Jaclyn Denman from Alberta Parks had some furs on display. She was busy answering questions from some interested school kids
Jennifer Mueller from the Lac La Biche Museum has some Metis Dresses and crafts on display
Indigenous groups and local officials took part in celebrating the heritage of Indigenous people, as several events were hosted throughout the area last week — one main event being Friday's community wide Indigenous Peoples Day celebration hosted by Lac La Biche Metis Nation of Alberta Region 1 at the McArthur Place.
Students from the Light of Christ School couldn't wait to taste Bannock on a stick. For some it was their first time giving it a try
Aurora Middle School's Principal Rob Wicker was busy chopping wood all day as they were being used up pretty fast by students preparing bannock on a stick
The McArthur Room was packed as the afternoon rain was passing by
Rachelle Feledichuk volunteers in the McArthur Room kitchen serving attendees traditional hot stew for supper
Metis elders Laurence and Irene Berland had their little display set up inside the McArthur Room as they were weathered out by the rain. They had some interesting stories and pictures to share with the attendees
The all-day event saw local school kids, community members, Indigenous elders and local officials celebrate in their own way. Indigenous games and craft, rock painting, and a petting zoo at the park kept the kids busy and active all day, while others enjoyed dancing and jigging to music played by a local Kikino-based band called Last Minute at the McArthur Park gazebo.
Crew from the Lac La Biche Mission was a busy bunch at lunch. They were busy serving a long queue of people with their delicious burgers
Chantel Sparklingeyes, Carly Moller and Melissa Green had their rock painting booth set up. It was something the school kids really enjoyed doing
The Petting zoo was also a main attraction for the youngsters. Parker Jeffries and Taryn Kuraitis enjoyed petting the baby goats
There was plenty of free food to go around as well. While crew from the Lac La Biche Mission served burgers to a long queue of people at lunch, volunteers kept the McArthur Room kitchen warm as they served traditional stew and bannock for supper.
Aurora student Mason Smallface seemed to know what he was doing — except for the already burnt bannock on a stick in his hand
Macey Ann Candyline and Morning Star Alook enjoy jigging in their traditional dresses
Students learned how to make talking sticks from Community Learning summer student Kashina Houle-howse
Lena Houle-howse poses with her talking stick on Fri June 21, at McArthur Place
Local Metis band Last Minute performed at the festitives.
Lise Rouleau is the Executive Director with the Lac La Biche Metis Nation of Alberta, and one of the organizers of the event. After a successful first year that saw a turnout of at least a thousand community members, the group can't wait to organize more community events to keep the locals engaged, says Rouleau as she spoke with the POST.
"This is the first year we have done it... It was amazing, we had at least a thousand here... All the schools participated, they bused all their students down... Some walked their students down. All the day-care kids came. The Mission close so they can come here and do the cooking so, everyone got together and collaborated and it was just amazing. We are going to actually continue that. I have asked if we can be a community standing committee because, if we are in small groups there's only the little pieces that we can do but, if we come together we can make it (the events) even bigger. We have Metis weekends up in the fall and we will work on that together," said Rouleau.
