Leona Wuttunee with grandsons Blaze (7) and Bam (5) Moccasin, at the Historic Battlefords Lions Park on Earth Day, April 22. (Julia Lovett-Squires/battlefordsNOW Staff)

By Julia Lovett-Squires

Earth Day

Happy Earth Day, Battlefords

Apr 22, 2025 | 4:22 PM

At the picnic tables at the Historic Battlefords Lions Park, Leona Wuttunee sat watching her grandkids play on the grass.

As she watched Blaze and Bam Moccasin, seven and five respectively, play she reflected on what Earth Day meant to her.

“For me Earth Day is a relationship that all of us as humans, we need to reconnect,” she said.

“Mother Earth in my culture is Grandma…she takes care of us and I think that that’s a bond that’s kind of neglected and broken.”

In celebration of the annual world-wide event that takes place every year on April 22, the Town of Battleford organized a community day-long clean up.

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“We do have several day homes that have picked up supplies and individual residents as well as town employees have been out and about this morning,” said Rachael MacDonald, administrative assistant for the Parks and Recreation Department.

“There are several locations around the Battlefords.”

According to the town’s website, residents could pick up cleaning supplies and equipment such as latex gloves and garbage bags to help ensure a safe and celebratory way to protect the environment.

Across the river in North Battleford, this year, local schools such as École Monseigneur Blaise Morand and businesses chose to focus on their own backyards while other residents chose to work around their neighbourhoods.

MacDonald said this year because the schools are on Easter Break, she expects it to be a bit quieter than in years’ past, but they hope people would still head out on the sunny afternoon.

“It is a beautiful day outside, much better weather than we had last year,” she said.

As Wuttunee watched her grandchildren running around, she said it was important to her that they learn the skills of recycling, spend time outdoors and away from the screens.

“Kids, they care. They care so much for their future and yet a lot of times, grownups – they take that for granted,” she said.

“Earth Day, we need to clean it, we need to keep ‘em clean, so they can have a tomorrow – a healthy tomorrow. Good drinking water, healthy air to breathe and the trees to stay grounded, to stay close to nature and part of that is keeping clean and keeping that bond with our young people.”

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julia.lovettsquires@pattisonmedia.com

On BlueSky: juleslovett.bsky.social