The Prince Albert Grand Council (PAGC) is putting on a wellness clinic and self-care gathering in Prince Albert this week.

The focus of the event is missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls.

Mental health therapist Marcia Mirasty is a member of Canoe Lake Cree First Nation and is a guest speaker at the gathering on Tuesday and Wednesday.

“This event focuses on healing and the importance of self-care,” Mirasty said. “It hopes to transfer skills to our people to give them hope, to give them courage and to give them the strength to move forward. I’m hoping that people will understand that trauma is generational and that trauma impacts their whole family. They can heal from it and there are different ways that they can heal.”

The gathering began Tuesday morning and will finish Thursday afternoon at Plaza 88.

Everyone is welcome to attend the event.

“I think that the general public tends to look down on Indigenous women, and yet we’re a powerful life force,” Mirasty said. “We need to bring that awareness. I believe the people in Saskatchewan need to have a greater awareness of just how colonization has affected our people. I hope that our people find solutions within their communities that meet the needs of their people.”

(PHOTO: Marcia Mirasty speaking at Plaza 88 in Prince Albert during the PAGC wellness clinic and self-care gathering. Photo by MBC Radio.)