National Indigenous People’s Day is coming up on June 21 and there are several events planned for the Revelstoke community.
The BC Interior Forestry Museum and the Aboriginal Friendship Society have teamed up to create a Riverside Traditional Knowledge Tour along the museum’s trails.
Created by the students in SD19’s Indigenous Education program, the walk will consist of stations where participants can learn about the Indigenous culture of the area.
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Groups will be limited due to COVID restrictions but the event will repeat throughout the week. Tickets will be $5 and available at either the museum and the Visitor Information Centre.
On Wednesday, June 23, the weekly Brown Bag History talk, hosted by Cathy English, will happen at the Revelstoke Railway Museum. English will be joined by local author Laura Stovel for a Zoom presentation of the history of the Sinixt nation.
The Revelstoke Visual Arts Centre is hosting two workshops, a beaded jewelry workshop by Elaine Auger, Dene artist from the Northwest Territories and a birch bark biting workshop by Halfmoon Woman, Pat Bruderer, a Cree artist from Manitoba.
The beading workshop for adults is a two-day session June 17 -18. A children’s workshop is happening June 19-20. The bark biting workshop for adults is running June 19.
Sign up online at revelstokeartgallery.ca/education
This month’s exhibition at the gallery also features Indigenous artist Nahanni McKay, a Metis artist from Treaty 7 Territory currently residing in Banff. She has created a series of photographs featuring a beekeeper.
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Arts Revelstoke will be doing virtual screenings of two films by Indigenous film makers, Older Than the Crown by Derrick LaMere, which follows the trial of the Sinixt tribal member Rick Desautel and SGaawaay K’uuna (Edge of The Knife) by Gwaai Edenshaw, which is the first feature film to be told entirely in Haida dialects by an Indigenous cast and crew.
The films will be available to watch on the Arts Revelstoke website from June 21-27.
Older Than The Crown - Official Trailer from War Pony Pictures on Vimeo.
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National Indigenous People’s Day was announced in 1996. The date was chosen in light of the fact that many Indigenous peoples and communities have traditionally celebrated their culture and heritage on or near the summer solstice–the longest day of the year.
READ MORE: Revelstoke students start memorial for Kamloops Indian Residential School victims