National Indigenous Peoples Day

June 21, the summer solstice, is National Indigenous Peoples Day, and communities across Central Alberta mark it with public celebrations. Red Deer holds the largest gathering in the region, with additional events at Maskwacis, Sunchild and O'Chiese First Nations, Métis locals, and a growing number of towns, schools and post-secondary campuses.

Programming usually opens with a pipe ceremony or a sunrise ceremony and moves through the day into drumming, round dances, powwow demonstrations, Métis jigging and fiddle, hand games, storytelling and craft demonstrations. Elders are central to the day rather than an addition to it, and much of the programming is designed so that visitors who have never attended can take part rather than only watch.

The region sits within Treaty 6 and Treaty 7 territory and the homeland of the Métis, and the day is framed as both a celebration and an act of public recognition. Food is a large part of it - bannock, stews and Indigenous-owned food vendors - and most events are free and explicitly open to everyone.

If you are attending for the first time, follow the guidance given from the microphone. Certain ceremonies are not photographed, and organisers will always say so clearly beforehand.