Staff and inmates from the Drumheller Institution donated tipis to Drumheller Valley Secondary School and St. Anthony’s School on Friday, December 10 as part of a continued path towards truth and reconciliation. A bannock taco fundraiser at the Institution on Indigenous People’s Day (June 21) and the first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation (September 30), along with funds from the Indigenous Cultural Support Group helped cover material costs for the tipis. A third tipi will be donated to Greentree Elementary School in spring 2022, though a date has not yet been determined. Golden Hills School Division Elder Clarence Wolfleg Sr. from the Siksika Nation smudged the tipi and said a prayer in the Blackfoot language during the tipi raising at DVSS. Elders Wolfleg and Cardinal were also presented with watercolour paintings by a DVSS student in appreciation for attending the presentation. Indigenous student Mason Coles helps Elder Ken Cardinal smudge the tipi before Elder Cardinal said a prayer at the St. Anthony’s raising. Smudging is a traditional Indigenous ceremony to purify or cleanse a person or place of negative energy with Indigenous plants such as cedar, sage, sweetgrass, or tobacco. At the DVSS raising were (l-r) Kyle CrowChief, Elder Clarence Wolfleg Sr, Elder Ken Cardinal, and Virgil Big Eagle.
