Red Deer Polytechnic will honour the unique history, culture and contributions of the Métis Nation with a number of events in the upcoming Métis Week.
Community members, RDP students, faculty and staff are invited to participate in the events on RDP's main campus:
•Nov. 8 – noon to 2 p.m. – Indigenous Veterans Day will include a soup and bannock lunch with a talk by Brian St. Germain about Métis Veterans in the Cenovus Energy Learning Common
• Nov. 12 – At 9 a.m. will be a Métis Flag Raising Ceremony outside RDP’s Main Entrance followed at 11 a.m. by a performance from Métis fiddler Billy Joseph in the Red Deer Bottling Forum
• Nov. 13 – At 11 a.m. there will be a cultural presentation by Brian St. Germain in the Students’ Association Loft
• Nov. 14 – There will be documentary screenings and refreshments between 8:30 am to 4:30 pm in the Pónokaisissáhta Indigenous Student Centre
• Nov. 15 – At 1 :30 p.m. there will be a presentation by Pamela Piche Lashmore in Margaret Parsons Theatre.
The Red Deer Museum and Art Gallery has also loaned artifacts that will be display all week in the Pónokaisissáhta Indigenous Student Centre.
RDP is organizing these events, led by the Indigenous Initiatives team, to provide opportunities for people who live on Treaty 7, Treaty 6 and Métis ancestral lands to come together.
The events are held in the spirit of truth and reconciliation for everyone to learn about the Métis Nation, including cultural pride and the historical challenges faced by Métis Peoples.
"Celebrating Métis Week in Canada annually is one of the ways in which RDP demonstrates its intention of building meaningful, reciprocal relationships between RDP and Indigenous Peoples."
RDP has developed an Indigenous Reconcili-Action Plan and those who want more information about the ways in which RDP is recognizing Métis Week can go to rdpolytech.ca/events/métis-week-rdp.
