Violet Naytowhow performs in front of the crowd at the National Indigenous Day celebrations hosted by the PAGC Women's Commission. (paNow Staff/Nick Nielsen)
National Indigenous Peoples Day

National Indigenous Peoples Day successful despite quick venue swap

Jun 21, 2025 | 5:55 PM

While the weather brought rain and wind, spirits were still high at the Prince Albert Grand Council Urban Services building for National Indigenous Peoples Day.

While people, Indigenous or not, were able to stop in and enjoy some musical entertainment and free food throughout the day and learn more about Indigenous culture, the celebrations had a major focus on helping those affected by the wildfires that have been ravaging northern Saskatchewan for most of the spring. Donations were collected throughout the day to support those evacuees returning home, and the PAGC’s Event Coordinator Sheryl Kimbley is proud to see what they were able to bring together.

“We know that the devastation is still there. Smoke damage with curtains, towels, beds and clothing, and all their cupboards empty and what have you. Of course, Denare Beach is decimated. So we’re looking to continue to help and I thank the Prince Albert Grand Council Women’s Commission for taking the initiative to make this event happen, even though we’ve got weather conditions, we knew that there was still a lot of help needed out north.”

Items that were collected during the celebration are going towards La Ronge tomorrow and Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation on Monday.

Anita Parenteau is the chair of the PAGC’s Women’s Commission as well as a councillor for her home nation of Sturgeon Lake First Nation. She helped organize the event, and was happy to see people gather for an Indigenous celebration while still taking care of those in need.

“I’m just so grateful and thankful that we were able to continue on with the event and that we were able to celebrate Indigenous Peoples Day and be able to continue advocating and helping the evacuees that are still suffering and still dealing with the losses of their homes and all the other stuff that goes with it. I keep them all in my prayers and I thank Sheryl for everything that she does.”

With so many of the evacuees in the north being from Indigenous communities, there was an extra sense of pride in the room during the Indigenous Peoples Day celebrations. Not only was it a chance for people to learn more about and celebrate Indigenous culture, but for Paranteau it was also a chance to see that community come together and support one another in real time.

“I’m really proud to be Indigenous, but not just today, every day. I live out in Sturgeon Lake, so I commute to Prince Albert all the time, and we do need to concentrate on the good that we have in our lives. We have a lot of good people out there. We have a lot of ceremony protocols going on, people praying, we need to concentrate on that and the kindness of our hearts and to keep helping one another. That’s that’s my motto.”

Kimbley added, “we have great people here working and we like to celebrate our ‘indigenousness’ if you will, and we believe we contribute in many good ways and too many times we focus on the bad ways that every culture has and this is the day to say ‘here we are, we contribute in a good way and we’re happy to be a part of a vibrant Prince Albert’.”

While a lot of the focus was on helping those suffering today, Parenteau made the point that it’s also important to remember the suffering of the past. Events like this aren’t just about teaching each other about different cultures that live so close together, but also about preserving the knowledge of those cultures that could be lost otherwise.

“I had to go back and get my education to learn who I was because there’s a lot of loss of identity, and doing these kind of events and welcoming with open arms, no judgment, no anger, there’s too much sadness from residential schools and trauma and all that, so we would like to concentrate on everybody to learn who they are, where they came from, and what language that they speak and so on and so on. We’re people of the land and that’s how I see it.”

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