Students and staff pose with the flag before it was raised Friday morning. (Michael Joel-Hansen/paNOW Staff)

By Michael Joel-Hansen

Louis Riel Memorial Day

Flag raised at Sask. Poly Tech campus in P.A.

Nov 15, 2019 | 1:23 PM

Louis Riel Memorial Day is being marked by Saskatchewan Polytechnic at their Prince Albert campus.

This morning the Métis Flag was raised in front of the school building. Just over 40 students came out to see it raised. Some guests were also on hand, including Sherry McLennan, area director for the Métis Nation Saskatchewan (MN-S) region two. McLennan said seeing the flag raised was a moment of real pride.

“I see my grandma and grandpa up there and they’re smiling down at me,” she said.

McLennan said events like the flag raising are important because there is a need to preserve the Michif language and many elders are passing on. This makes more important stories be passed down and events like the flag raising help get people thinking about it. She added the history of Métis peoples is something which also needs to be remembered.

“That flag flying right now, it’s beautiful, its just flopping in the wind and when we look at it, we need to remember Louis Riel and what he fought for,” she said.

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Jennifer Brockman, left and Sherry McLennan working to get the flag on the pole. (Michael Joel-Hansen/paNOW Staff)

Jennifer Brockman, coordinator of the Indigenous Students Centre at Saskatchewan Poly Tech P.A. campus said the event Friday morning was much more than a flag raising. She explained bringing together people for such an event can help get people talking and hoped students would take away something from it.

“Sharing of their stories, of their growing up, even if they’re not Métis, just those stories of maybe asking somebody, what is their history,” she said.

Brockman said she noticed a change over time in how being Métis is looked at. She said more people are now identifying and registering. She has also noticed an embrace of the culture, with more people wearing sashes, pins and other symbols.

“Now I think people are beginning to embrace who they are and being proud of having mixed ancestry,” she said.

(Michael Joel-Hansen/paNOW Staff)

MichaelJoel.Hansen@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @mjhskcdn