Prince Albert Grand Council. (File photo/ paNOW Staff)

By Nigel Maxwell

Events

Treaty Fair goes online

Sep 26, 2021 | 12:00 PM

A three-day virtual fair this week will help shed some light on some very serious and important subjects.

The event is being put on Prince Albert Grand Council (PAGC), in partnership with the Office of the Treaty Commissioner, and Wahpeton Dakota Nation.

Among the subjects being covered are treaty awareness and reconciliation as well as the history surrounding Orange Shirt Day. PAGC Director of Education Ed Merasty said the recent discovery of 751 graves at the Cowessess First Nation had an impact across the country.

“We want to be able to carry that torch now and say now here is a positive way that all Canadians in Saskatchewan and across the country can move forward with reconciliation and the understanding of treaties does lend itself to the response to the calls to action,” he said.

Due to COVID, the event this year could not be held in person. So when discussing plans, organizers were forced to think outside the box. Merasty said they looked at similar online events that had been held in other parts of the country. One aspect he was drawn to was the ability to share the different aspects and cultural practices of each participating community.

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“Within the PAGC, we have Treaty 5, 6, 8, 10, and the Alexander Treaties, and all of them are unique. All of them represent a specific region and all of them are living documents today,” he said.

Vince Brittain helped organize this week’s event. As of Friday, there were 97 registrants, but in some case entire schools counted as one.

“I remember 10 or 15 years ago when I did my first treaty fair, we had different activities that were rotating throughout and this year we just decided to go online and brought the speakers and the technology piece and think innovatively,” he said.

Activities and discussions will take place from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday to Wednesday.

nigel.maxwell@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @nigelmaxwell