Canada Day in the Elk Valley was a celebration of culture and community, with an Indigenous reconciliation walk and ceremony in Fernie, and a community volunteer barbecue in Sparwood.
Fernie
In Fernie, city officials, residents and Yaq̓it ʔa·knuqⱡi’it (Tobacco Plains Band) took part in a Canada Together event to honour Indigenous culture and pave the way towards reconciliation.
Chief Heidi Gravelle, Yaq̓it ʔa·knuqⱡi’it councillor Kyle Shottanana and Mayor Nic Milligan acknowledged the importance of the event outside of City Hall and the band flag was raised. After the initial address, attendees formed a procession that wound its way from City Hall to the Aquatic Centre and passed through downtown. The group was led by the Chief Cliff Singers from Elmo, Montana, and dancers from Ktunaxa First Nation and Kainai First Nation in Alberta.
Tamara and Ed Shouting from Kainai; Evelyn Gus and Marcus Morigeau from Yaq̓it ʔa·knuqⱡi’it; and Reyna Damstrom from Aq'am in Cranbrook performed jingle, fancy, grass and chicken dances outside the Aquatic Centre. At the end of their show, they invited all attendees to take part in a round dance, where everyone held hands and circled around the park.
Tamara said that Canada Day is a time when she thinks about the country's history and the resilience of her people.
"It's a day of reflection and seeing what we can do to move forward. This is a time for us to reflect on what we've persevered through. We're still here and still sharing our beautiful culture with everyone," she said.
"It's such a great opportunity to experience the reconciliation efforts between both communities coming together and moving forward. It really does mean a lot to see the unity," she added.
Paul and Mikel Phillips from the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes in Montana demonstrated a traditional Ktunaxa sport known colloquially as 'double ball.' Participants were give two balls that were connected by a string, and were tasked with tossing it to one another using a wooden stick, with the objective of trying to loop it around the wooden goal post as many times as possible, and in certain directions to get points.
Paul said sports helped Indigenous communities develop crucial survival skills necessary for hunting, gathering, trade, and battle.
"It can teach hand-to-hand combat, learning how to wrestle, how to tackle. It's not really any different from any other martial art out there. When you're playing these games, you're learning technique over brute strength," said Paul.
The events coincided with the first day of the Fernie Mountain Market, and visitors enjoyed perusing the stalls for jam, honey and hand-crafted goods.
In the afternoon, Heather Gemmell, Sami Valavaara and Ivan Palomares provided musical entertainment.
Sparwood
Sparwood held a volunteer appreciation barbecue and family activities at the Recreation Centre. Attendees treated themselves to hot dogs, hamburgers and cupcakes as they listened to music from Fernie musician Kylie Rodgers.
Youth enjoyed face painting, crafts, arcade games and a photo booth in the arena. Outside, the fire department hosted a firetruck race where children used hoses to move miniature firetrucks down the parking lot, and families took part in archery tag using imitation bows and arrows to strike people 'out'.
"Canada Day should be special to everyone. We live in probably the greatest country in the world. Everyone's got freedom. To watch all these kids have fun today, it's just a great day," said Mayor David Wilks.
"I watch what we produce here in the Elk Valley with all the coal that comes out of here and goes around the world, provides great paying jobs, provides people all over the world with steel. What else could we ask for? It's just a wonderful place in the world," he said.