LLRIB Plans Treaty Celebration, School Reunion

LLRIB Plans Treaty Celebration, School Reunion

Wednesday, September 23, 2009 at 14:21

 

 

The Lac La Ronge Indian Band is preparing to celebrate the 120th anniversary of the Treaty 6 adhesion.

 

It was back in 1889 that the band first became a signatory to the treaty, along with the Montreal Lake and Peter Ballantyne Cree Nations.

 

The treaty celebration will be held at the band’s Jonas Roberts Memorial Community Centre near La Ronge, on Sept. 29.

 

Traditional food and activities will be available, and a keynote address will be delivered by former Assembly of First Nations chief Ovide Mercredi.

 

The LLRIB’s Chief Tammy Cook-Searson says it’s important for the band to commemorate its involvement with Treaty 6.

 

She says the band has always upheld its side of the treaty, and that is something worth acknowledging.

 

“It’s important to recognize where we come from, who we are as First Nations, and just to celebrate together that we’re still here, that we’re resilient, and just to celebrate with our people and to be proud that we’re still in our traditional territory,” Cook-Searson says.

 

Meantime, a separate celebration will be held on Sept. 30 for former residential school students.

 

Cook-Searson says at the request of elders, the event will be held in downtown La Ronge across from Patterson Park, on the old hospital grounds, as that is where the first residential school in the community once stood.

 

The chief says that reunion is being held so elders can renew old friendships and share memories.

 

She says those things will aid in the healing process.

 

There will be an open mike time for people to share their experiences, and the band is also asking people to bring photos.

 

An update will also be given on the band’s efforts to have the Timber Bay boarding school recognized as a government-run Indian residential school, including the quest for compensation for former students.