6:01pm June 21st, 2020 [Facebook][Main]

Today, June 21st, we also celebrate National Indigenous Peoples Day! The team at T8GP reached out to us to bring awareness to 5 sites and monuments around #GrandePrairie that celebrate and memorialize Indigenous heritage in our region. In a couple weeks, we will be sharing even more throughout the city – stay tuned!

1. The Grande Prairie Friendship Centre (GPFC): Created to deliver programs that meet the needs of Indigenous and non-Indigenous people in our community migrating to urban centres, the centre also hosts many annual events that are open to the public.

2. Sisters in Spirit Rock: A memorial site dedicated to Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women in partnership with GPFC and GPRC, located at the GPRC walking trails. The jingle dress dancer artwork was created by Natascha Okimaw.

3. Mamawe Concourse at the Montrose Cultural Centre: “Mamawe” means “gathering place” in Woodland Cree. It is meant to recognize the respect for present and future Indigenous members in the community.

4. Angie Crerar Park: Named after influential Métis elder Angie Crerar, this park commemorates Angie’s contributions to many local, provincial, and national initiatives and programs, including the Grande Prairie Friendship Centre, Native Counseling Services of Alberta, Grande Prairie Regional College, and more. Angie is also the President and long-standing member of Métis Local 1990. She is a regarded as an esteemed elder and continues to serve the community through her generous storytelling, advocacy, and support.

5. Grande Prairie Regional College GPRC: Douglas J. Cardinal is an architect of Blackfoot ancestry who was hired in 1972 to prepare a master plan of what would become the GPRC campus. Cardinal worked from an Indigenous lens to blend his structure into the landscape and achieve a striking aesthetic, both outside and inside.

#NationalIndigenousPeoplesDay