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Payhonin Reconciliation talks aim to write new chapter on Indigenous relations

Maureen Callihoo-Ligtvoet’s father, Ernie, remembers the days when there was just one streetlight on Perron Street.

Maureen Callihoo-Ligtvoet’s father, Ernie, remembers the days when there was just one streetlight on Perron Street.

St. Albert’s Indigenous community was close-knit in those days, and you always dropped by to visit friends and family when you were in town, Callihoo-Ligtvoet said, addressing about 100 people at the St. Albert Curling Club Wednesday.

But those were also the days when Indigenous people weren’t allowed to vote or go in bars, and not many years from the time they couldn’t go off-reserve without a pass. It was also not long after her father was clearing rocks and roots off Mission Hill as a student at the Youville residential school.

“So many traumas happened at the residential school. Our families were torn apart. Our culture and language was taken away, and we became lost shadows,” Callihoo-Ligtvoet said.

That history, and what to do about it, is the focus of the Payhonin Reconciliation project launched at the curling club by the City of St. Albert Wednesday. The project invites city residents to learn more about the city’s Indigenous past and to share their thoughts on how to build a better relationship with Métis, First Nations and Inuit Canadians.

City council is committed to getting off on the right foot with Indigenous relations, Mayor Cathy Heron told the crowd. Council hung the Treaty 6 and Métis Nation flags and had a First Nations elder bless council chambers at the start of this term, and now wants to consult with all parts of the community to figure out the best path forward on reconciliation.

“Our conversation has to be about how to get from the status quo to a new beginning,” Heron said.

“All Canadians must come to terms with the legacy of colonialism.”

Payhonin is a Cree term for “place where I would wait for something to happen,” said Leo Jacobs, a member of the Bigstone Cree Nation and lead consultant on the Payhonin project. Indigenous trappers had several such places in the Sturgeon Valley where they would wait to exchange goods with traders from Fort Edmonton.

“Just as the trappers did in the 1700s and the 1800s, we are gathering here in St Albert to work on truth and reconciliation,” Jacobs said.

Part of that involves a tea and talking circle that will be held in the lobby of St. Albert Place from May 6 to 10, which Jacobs hoped some 200 people would attend.

“We’re going to be using a trapper’s tent,” Jacobs said, and guests will be able to drop in for tea, share their thoughts about reconciliation and get more comfortable with Indigenous culture and people. The talks will run from 2 to 8 p.m., and people can stay as long as they like.

Other parts of Payhonin include an online survey, focus groups and an online pledge people can take to learn more about Indigenous peoples and support ongoing reconciliation efforts.

In addition to a framework agreement for reconciliation, the city hopes these talks will help it revise its land acknowledgement statement – a statement typically read out at city functions where, as a show of respect, officials acknowledge they are on Treaty 6 territory and the history of the Indigenous people on those lands.

Heron said the city wants to know when and how to use this statement, and whether or not it’s adequate for St. Albert. One problem the current one has is that it mentions the Métis but not the First Nations or Inuit.

“You mention one, you have to mention all three,” she said.

Jacobs said these talks should lead to a list of recommendations by the end of May. Actually implementing them could take years, but doing so could create new tourism and educational opportunities in town (such as memorials) and partnerships with neighbouring First Nations.

Heron pitched this as a chance to learn the full story of St. Albert’s history.

“If you value the history of your community, this is an opportunity for everyone to learn more about it.”

Details on the consultation can be found at stalbert.ca/exp/heritage/reconciliation/.


Kevin Ma

About the Author: Kevin Ma

Kevin Ma joined the St. Albert Gazette in 2006. He writes about Sturgeon County, education, the environment, agriculture, science and aboriginal affairs. He also contributes features, photographs and video.
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