How to celebrate National Indigenous Peoples Day in Halifax
Tuesday is National Indigenous Peoples Day, which recognizes the contributions and celebrates the cultures of First Nations, Inuit and Métis people throughout Canada. To mark the day, there are events happening around Halifax.
One event, the Mawita’jik Competition Pow Wow, happened in Dartmouth, N.S., over the weekend. Cheryl Gehue, the Indigenous community advisor for the Halifax Regional Municipality, says it’s one of the largest competitive pow wows east of Montreal.
“We had thousands of people coming in to watch our amazing, talented drummers and dancers perform and compete this weekend. It was absolutely the most heat-warming thing you could see all weekend,” says Gehue. “As many people were saying, it just made our heart smile. It was just so wonderful to hear the drums again and see our dancers and showcase the beautiful resilient culture that we have.”
National Indigenous Peoples Day will be marked at events throughout Halifax Tuesday, including DeWolf Park in Bedford at 4 p.m.
“We have some activities for children, so they can come and make a teepee and we’ll give them a teaching about erecting a teepee, and you could also come and talk with an Elder in one. We also have some Lusknikn, some Mi’kmaq bread, for people to try.”
Another Indigenous Peoples Day event will take place Tuesday evening at the Grand Oasis stage outside Halifax City Hall, with musical entertainment.
DJ Shub, who recently won the 2022 JUNO award for Contemporary Indigenous Artist of the Year, will perform. Boogát and the Iron Tide dancers from Millbrook First Nation will open the event, which starts at 7 p.m.
“It’s quite an exciting evening showcasing Indigenous artists, dancers and performers and crafts throughout the city,” says Gehue.
Gehue says, after unmarked graves were found at former residential school sites last year, Halifax decided that Canada Day celebrations shouldn’t be cancelled next week, but instead refocused events to reflect the Indigenous community.
“Within Halifax this year, we’re going to be hosting a Mawio'mi that will be open to the public to come in. We have drummers and dancers and singers and performers coming to perform. We will be giving away free samples of Indian tacos to try out. You’ll get to see and learn different dance styles, you’ll get to hear Inuit drummers and dancers perform.”
The Canada Day event at the Halifax Commons includes performances by DeeDee Austin and the Blue Marshall band. The Kana’ta 2022 Main Event Concert at Grand Parade happening later in the day will feature performances by Drives The Common Man, Neon Dreams and Crown Lands, ahead of a fireworks finale.
“It’s a wonderful opportunity for everybody to come out and see our culture, share our culture, taste our food and learn more about it,” says Gehue.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'They needed people inside Air Canada:' Police announce arrests in Pearson gold heist
Police say one former and one current employee of Air Canada are among the nine suspects that are facing charges in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year.
Why drivers in Eastern Canada could see big gas price spikes, and other Canadians won't
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter banned from NBA
Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter has been handed a lifetime ban from The National Basketball Association (NBA) following an investigation which found he disclosed confidential information to sports bettors, the league says.
WATCH LIVE As GC Strategies partner is admonished by MPs, RCMP confirms search warrant executed
The RCMP confirmed Wednesday it had executed a search warrant at an address registered to GC Strategies. This development comes as MPs are enacting an extraordinary, rarely used parliamentary power, summoning one of its contractors to appear before the House of Commons to be admonished publicly for failing to answer questions related to the ArriveCan app.
Woman who pressured boyfriend to kill his ex in 2000s granted absences from prison
A woman who pressured her boyfriend into killing his teenage ex more than a decade ago will be allowed to leave prison for weeks at a time.
Attempt to have murder charge quashed against alleged serial killer dismissed by judge
A motion filed by the man accused of killing four Indigenous women in Winnipeg to have one of those murder charges quashed has been dismissed by the judge – weeks before the start of his trial.
Government proposes new policy for federally regulated employees to disconnect from work
In their 2024 budget, the federal government wants to amend the Canada Labour Code, so employers in federally regulated sectors will eliminate work-related communication with employees outside of scheduled hours. If implemented, this would affect roughly 500,000 across the country.
Earthquake jolts southern Japan
An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.4 hit southern Japan late on Wednesday, said the Japan Meteorological Agency, without issuing a tsunami warning.
Disappointment widespread over budget's proposed $200-month disability benefit funding
Advocacy groups across Canada are expressing widespread disappointment about the amount of funding earmarked in the 2024 federal budget for the long-awaited Canada Disability Benefit.