'Largest ever' sunrise ceremony in St. John's marks start of Indigenous Peoples Day celebrations

As the sun rose in St. John's Friday, people gathered in Bannerman Park to greet it, marking the start of events for National Indigenous Peoples Day.

More than 130 people showed up for the early morning celebration.

"I think this may be the largest sunrise ceremony we've ever had in the park," said Jenelle Duval, program co-ordinator at First Light, the St. John's Friendship Centre. 

"We may need a bigger space," she added with a laugh.

National Indigenous Peoples Day is a day for all Canadians to celebrate the unique heritage, diverse cultures and contributions of First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples.

In Labrador, the Labrador Friendship Centre is hosting a day of activities in Happy Valley-Goose Bay, including traditional food, games and musical performances, taking place in the field across from the centre.

In Conne Rover, the Miawpukek First Nation's celebrations start at 11 a.m. at McDonald's beach.

Meanwhile, in St. John's, Duvall said the sunrise ceremony is just the first of the day's events.

"The sunrise ceremony is a way for people to gather in unity to honour the day and bring it in, in a good way," she said. "We gather together in a large circle and we pray together, we sing together."

There are other events across Newfoundland and Labrador throughout the day, including a flag-raising and eagle feather presentation with Premier Dwight Ball at RCMP headquarters, and the unveiling of a heart garden at Government House in St. John's.

A flag and a feather

"It is very historic, it's long overdue and it's just to recognize the importance of treating our Indigenous people with respect and being part of our culture," said Odelle Pike, president of the Newfoundland Aboriginal Women's Network, shortly after ceremonies ended at RCMP headquarters. 

The eagle feather presented to the RCMP, Pike said, is one of the highest honours one can receive in Indigenous culture.

Each RCMP detachment across Newfoundland and Labrador will be presented with its own feather to allow people the option, rather than holding a bible, to swear legal oaths. This makes Newfoundland and Labrador the third province in Canada to allow for the choice to be made, behind Nova Scotia which and Manitoba. 

"When we hold it in our hands as Indigenous people, we are bound to tell the truth. So that's why it's important for the court system to recognize the significance of the eagle feather to our Indigenous people," Pike said.

Pike said all court rooms in Newfoundland and Labrador were presented with an eagle feather in January, and on Thursday a stop was made to the correctional facility in Clarenville, which was presented with its own feather. 

"There was probably eight or nine Indigenous people there, and there were just so grateful now that they have that opportunity in the correctional system to avail of the feather," she said.

Indigenous Policing Officer for Newfoundland and Labrador RCMP Brad Squires said the idea to utilize the eagle feather inside police detachments was brought forward by his colleagues in Nova Scotia. 

It was through conversations with Nova Scotia RCMP that Squires felt he could make something similar happen in Newfoundland and Labrador. 

"From the day I stepped into this role it's been my only mission to build positive relationships, repair broken ones and establish ones that have never been there before," he said. 

"We can never fix and look back at things that have happened in the past, but we can, starting today, move forward ... and one small piece in the puzzle is events like today where we have more people being a part of that, and now all of our detachments in Newfoundland and Labrador will be a small part of that reconciliation."

The garden

Heart gardens honour residential school children, the survivors and their families.

"Most importantly, it honours those that did not come home," said Judy White, chair of the Newfoundland and Labrador Human Rights Commission, outside of Government House during the presentation of this province's heart garden. 

"This is the first place in Canada where the heart garden is located at Government House."   

Anstasia Qupee was on hand at Government House to represent the Innu Nation, to share her story, her family's story and why the garden is so important to her. 

She was the first female chief and the first female grand chief of the Innu first nation.

Qupee hopes that people of all cultures will visit the garden to reflect about the inhumanity of residential schools, she said, and to look inward to examine our connections to that painful legacy.

"In quiet surroundings we can reflect on this horrible history done to Indigenous people," she said. 

"We should feel discomfort thinking about the thousands of Indigenous children, many of whom lost their lives and so many others whose future were all but destroyed."

Friday's events are just one element of National Indigenous Peoples Day. First Light has organized a full week of events, including a pow-wow dance on Thursday, as well as throat singing workshops and drum teachings.

Duval said this year's celebrations are drawing the largest crowd ever.

"It shows the level of support that we have here in our urban community," she said. "We have a very large and growing urban Indigenous population and everyone that showed up today, they were from all nations, they were from all backgrounds, all walks of life, and we were all here together. It shows a huge level of support."

For Patty Maloney, a community outreach worker at the Labrador Friendship Centre, National Indigenous Peoples Day is an important way to show people the depths of Canada's cultures.

"It's important to recognize and honour the rich culture, the rich traditions that we have in our community," she said. "People can come out and they can see what's going on, they'll find out more about the different cultures. And sometimes people just need to see it and celebrate it."

There's a lot of pride in taking part in the celebrations, Maloney said.

"It's a sense of ownership, a sense of who you are, and getting to showcase who you are and where you come from."

Read more articles from CBC Newfoundland and Labrador