National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

This year, in celebration of National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, the Elders of the Elders Story Project (ESP) are moving from Truth towards Reconciliation, featuring ceremonies that this group has never before shared with an audience. With a free Indigenous Makers Market and Pow Wow Showcase to compliment the evening, join us on September 30 for a celebration of tradition, remembrance, and joy.

Elders from Piikani (Blackfoot) and Stoney (Iyarhe Nakoda) will begin the evening co-leading the Horse Dance Ceremony, which is a celebration of the partnership between man and horse. This is a visually stunning tradition and tribute. Following the Horse Dance Ceremony will be a Naming Ceremony, where our very own President and CEO, Alex Sarian, and our VP of Strategic Projects, Tasha Komery, will each be gifted and honoured with a Blackfoot name.

After intermission, you will witness a Song Transfer Ceremony. Antoine Goulet of Young Gun Singers has composed a song specifically for Werklund Centre. As is tradition, this song must be passed to Werklund Centre through ceremony before we can claim it as our own. As we continue to commit to paralleling Indigenous ways with Western ways, the song is to be treated like a contract or a corporate seal. From the time the song is transferred, Werklund Centre will incorporate the song into every announcement and agreement made.

If this is your first time joining us for National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, you can expect to see the Elders seated in a semi-circle facing the audience, inviting the audience to join them in completing the circle and participate in the night’s events. As a gesture of friendship and community, the evening will end with a Round Dance, which everyone is welcome to join.