A four-day cultural celebration is setting up in town next week.
Monday, June 18 to Thursday, June 21 there will be Indigenous teachings, games, information booths and more set up at Participark in Timmins.
The free event is being organized by the Timmins Indigenous Organizations Committee and wraps up on National Indigenous Peoples Day.
Heather Murray, who works at the Timmins Native Friendship Centre and sits on the organizing committee, said the grounds are open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday to Wednesday.
From noon to 5 p.m. there will be booths, activities, games, vendors, demonstrations and inflatables. Each day there is also a moose/goose calling competition.
“We have one of the staff here at the friendship centre is actually going to be there and she’ll be doing names in Cree syllabic, so the children will be able to get their names in syllabics. And there’ll be loom beading, talking about the smudge, walking stick games, reading of the Metis book,” she said.
Different teachings and sessions will be held each day as well.
Monday and Wednesday is an open mic from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.
“We want anybody to come, it doesn’t matter if you have a guitar, fiddle if you’re a comedian, just as long as your jokes are good, family-friendly. Come on out, we’re inviting everybody,” she said.
Tuesday, the drumming that is normally held at the Timmins Native Friendship Centre is moving to Participark.
“If anyone wants to come listen to some songs and learn some Cree or Ojibway songs, come on out. And if you have a drum, bring your drum,” she said.
At the Timmins Museum on Wednesday there is also a screening of the documentary After the Last River. It starts at 6:30 p.m. and admission is free.
You can check out the full schedule for teachings and events on Facebook here.
While National Indigenous Peoples Day is normally celebrated locally, this is the first time that the committee has put together the four-day event.
Murray said they thought is was important after the Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC) was in town earlier this year.
In an interview after the trip, the Canadian Press reported that Chief Commissioner Renu Mandhane said racism appears to be normalized in the city and that her group got “the sense that there is a pervasive level of racism that Indigenous people experience in Timmins.”
After the visit, Murray said the committee decided to hold a four-day event, which allows them to “have teachings and ceremonies and knowledge-keepers share information.”
While the celebrations are on next week, the OHRC will be back in town for educational sessions.
National Indigenous Peoples Day on Thursday will also see the city raise the flags of three Indigenous flags, which will then permanently fly at city hall.
The three flags are the Mattagami First Nation, which is the traditional territory of the city, the Nishnawbe Aski Nation, which is the greater treaty land, and the Metis Nation of Ontario.
“We’re all going to be at city hall for the flag raising and then we’re going to march from there down to Participark,” Murray said. “It’s unity, it’s not a separation. It’s trying to bring people together no matter what race or what culture because if you’ve noticed in this community there is more and more people of different colours, different ethnic backgrounds coming to Timmins. If we just think, OK leave those people in that corner, those people in that corner, how are we ever going to be accepting of one another? We need to be more involved and do more of this cultural stuff.”
The June 21 celebration officially kicks off at 5:30 a.m. with a sunrise ceremony at Participark. The flag raising is at city hall at 11 a.m., followed by the walk to the park where the opening remarks are at noon.
Throughout the afternoon there will be activities, arts and crafts, teachings, drummings, and more. Everything wraps up at 5 p.m.
