Members of the Drumheller RCMP detachment, town council and staff, and Indigenous leaders and liaisons were present at the blessing ceremony of the Treaty 7 Territory, Land Acknowledgment plaque held Wednesday, June 16.
The plaque, which will be displayed in the Drumheller RCMP office, acknowledges and recognizes Drumheller as being located on the traditional grounds of Treaty 7 First Nations--the Siksika (Blackfoot), Kainai (Blood), Piikani (Peigan), Stoney-Nakoda, and Tsuut’ina (Sarcee) peoples. Land acknowledgments is one of 94 recommended calls to action within the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada.
Elder Ken Cardinal and Staff Sergeant Ed Bourque both spoke on the importance of educating on the tragic and horrific role residential schools have on Indigenous peoples. The last residential school, the Gordon Indian Residential School, in Punnichy, Saskatchewan closed in 1996.
The blessing and land acknowledgment came following the discovery on Thursday, May 27 of the remains of 215 children on the grounds of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School in Kamloops, B.C.
