The Reconciliation Nipawin flag will be raised at Town Hall for National Indigenous Peoples Day on June 21 (Aaron Schulze/northeastNOW Staff).

By Aaron Schulze

Reconciliation Nipawin

Reconciliation Nipawin Flag to be raised at Town Hall on National Indigenous Peoples Day

May 30, 2019 | 2:31 PM

June 21, 2019 is National Indigenous Peoples Day in Canada, and the Town of Nipawin has agreed with a local group to acknowledge the occasion in a public way.

Council voted to raise the Reconciliation Nipawin Flag at town hall during the May 13 council meeting.

Reconciliation Nipawin is a community-based working group in the Nipawin area with a goal to provide education and reconciliation events to the town and surrounding communities.

Jillian Carriere, co-chair of Reconciliation Nipawin, told northeastNOW they received a $5,000 grant from Saskatchewan Sports Culture and Recreation and put a portion of it toward a flag. Carriere said the group got together and thought it would be a good idea to ask the town if there was a place to raise their flag.

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“We thought having it at the town office would be a great way to show our community and people who pass through that our community that this group is existing,” Carriere said. “This is who we are and what we’re working towards – reconciliation in Nipawin. I’ve been living here for about three years and it’s a really great feeling to be a part of this movement in reconciliation and bringing that into the town. I feel like it’s needed in our area because Nipawin does sit on Treaty 6 Territory.”

Reconciliation Nipawin started two years ago, has nearly 15 members, and hosts events in the community such as Orange Shirt Day, which saw over 300 people participate in a community round dance at Central Park.

Mayor Rennie Harper said having the town hall raise the flag means a lot to her, council, and town staff.

“I do think that we need to be focusing hard on the truth and reconciliation action plan,” Harper said. “This town is all about everybody that’s in it — all kinds of culture and people. We need to be working hard to promote that, and this is an opportunity to do that and show that we’re solidly behind that.”

Carriere said Reconciliation Nipawin is going to approach the town to see if a public event or recognition can take place when the flag is raised.

“We want people to come out and see it,” she said. “We’re probably going to have a little feature about our group, what this means, and the significance behind reconciliation and the town agreeing to raise the flag. I hope to see a lot of people come out and that it will be a pretty big day.”

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aaron.schulze@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @SchulzePANow