Parks Canada celebrated National Aboriginal Day on Thursday, June 21, at Riding Mountain National Park. More than 400 people, many of them students and their teachers, attended.
National Aboriginal Day offers Canadians the opportunity to celebrate the culture and heritage of First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples, as well as their many contributions to Canadian history. It is a day to learn about the values and traditional knowledge of our First Peoples.
The morning’s schedule featured learning activities that included drum teaching, bannock making, four directions and medicine wheel teachings. Fort Dauphin Museum brought their Red River Cart and a tipi to help people learn about the days of the Fur Trade. There were also several environmentally themed stations where participants could learn about biodiversity in healthy ecosystems, and about how First Nations traditions can teach us to respect the environment.
Parks Canada was very pleased to host elders, teachers, dancers, and drum groups from the neighbouring First Nation communities of Keeseekoowenin, Rolling River, Waywayseecappo and Tootinaowaziibeeng. The powwow in the afternoon with Kingsley Brandon as MC attracted a large crowd. Three drum groups played for the many dancers dressed in their elaborate regalia. Inter tribal dances offered spectators a chance to participate in this traditional art form, and the final Friendship Dance had just about everyone up on their feet in the powwow circle for this heart warming send off to a wonderful day.
“First Nations were living in the Riding Mountain area long before the park was established in 1933,” said Roger Schroeder, External Relations Manager.
“Parks Canada works with our First Nations neighbours to build strong relationships that honour their past in the area, and that plan for how we will share this wonderful place with them into the future.”
This year’s event was hosted by the Riding Mountain National Aboriginal Day Celebration Committee, which consists of Keeseekoowenin Ojibway First Nation, Wapiti Association, Friends of Riding Mountain National Park and Parks Canada.  
Parks Canada works to ensure Canada’s historic and natural heritage is protected and, through a network of 43 national parks, 167 national historic sites, and four national marine conservation areas, invites Canadians and people around the world to engage in personal moments of inspiring discovery at our treasured natural and historic places.
For more information on Riding Mountain National Park, please visit parkscanada.gc.ca/riding.