Former Regina campground to be turned into Indigenous ceremony site
King’s Park Campground in Regina hasn’t seen campers in a long time. However, life might soon return to the space in the form of an Indigenous ceremonial site.
After a moving delegation from Elder Harry Francis, the recommendation was to move forward to permanently designate the space for ceremony.
“Right now, I’m so happy I don’t know how to explain it, because it’s something that a lot of us always thought about, but working on forming a partnership with the city and the city staff … at the back of my mind is, ‘Is it gonna fly?’ I was always worried is this gonna fly or is it not gonna fly,” he said.
It did in fact fly in the form of a unanimous vote from those in attendance at city council on Wednesday.
“We have a lot of urban Indigenous who are looking for connection to identity and ceremony and their culture. We have an elder’s advisory council now to administration as well as council that is saying this looks like a good idea, we got a plan for implementation over five years,” Regina Mayor Sandra Masters said following the decision.
Elder Francis additionally explained that the space, while designated for Indigenous ceremony, is open to everyone, a lesson of inclusion which he learned from his grandfather and other community elders during his youth.
“They always said, ‘We welcome all human beings because all human beings are children of the creator, children of God and that if they come with us and they wanna follow our way, we are to accept them” Francis said.
The five year plan of the site’s development includes eight sweats in year one and collaboration between council and the elder’s advisory committee to determine rules for the space.
“Because we’ve started off in a good way with a pipe ceremony and a sweat, with that continual elder’s advice coming in to us that we can set something up that will be enduring,” Masters said.
Now, the motion will be moved along for council approval at their upcoming meeting on May 8.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Family of toddler found dead at small-town Ont. daycare no closer to answers after year of investigation
A year has passed since two-year-old Vienna Irwin was found on the property of a home-based daycare in small-town Ontario, but her family says they are no closer to answers of what happened that day.
Fatal plane crash reported near Squamish, B.C.
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada has confirmed it is working with local Mounties and the BC Coroners Service after a plane crash near Squamish, B.C. Friday night.
Grayson Murray, two-time PGA Tour winner, dead at 30
Two-time PGA Tour winner Grayson Murray died Saturday morning at age 30, one day after he withdrew from the Charles Schwab Cup Challenge at Colonial.
Humboldt Broncos crash victims and families react to decision to deport truck driver
The family of one of the victims of the Humboldt Broncos bus crash in 2018 says they are 'thankful' for a decision by a Calgary immigration board to deport the driver of the truck involved.
Community mourns victims of fatal boat crash near Kingston, Ont.
The three people killed in last weekend's tragic collision between a speedboat and a fishing boat north of Kingston are being remembered Friday.
'God forgives but we don’t': Loud outburst from stabbing victim’s family during sentencing hearing
An emotional outburst in a London, Ont. courtroom Friday disrupted the sentencing hearing of a woman who pleaded guilty for her part in the death of 29-year-old Mohammed Abdallah.
American Airlines drops law firm that said a 9-year-old girl should have seen camera on toilet seat
American Airlines has replaced the law firm that told a judge a nine-year-old girl was negligent in not noticing there was a camera phone taped to the seat in an airplane lavatory.
Nicki Minaj's England concert postponed after rapper was detained by Dutch authorities over pot
Nicki Minaj's concert in Manchester scheduled for Saturday night was postponed after police in the Netherlands discovered marijuana in her bags as she was preparing to leave the country.
1 dead, 3 in hospital after flying wheel crashes into bus windshield on QEW
A man is dead, and three others are in hospital after a flying wheel crashed into a coach bus on the QEW in St. Catharines.