The City of Parksville is putting $1,000 toward a local National Indigenous Peoples Day event next month.
Coun. Kirk Oates made a motion for council to allocate $1,000 from the council contingency fund for an event to recognize National Indigenous Peoples Day on June 21. Council approved the motion, but councillors Leanne Salter, Kim Burden and Sue Powell were absent from the meeting.
“As you know, this council is very much open to and hopeful that we can establish strong relations with our First Nations neighbours,” Oates said.
Oates said council held a very successful event last year and this funding would allow for a similar event and would be a “good investment in our relationship” with the First Nations communities.
Mayor Marc Lefebvre said during Wednesday’s (May 23) council meeting that he attended a meeting with First Nations about possibly having a display of artifacts that have never been shown before and having elders talk about the artifacts, such as what they mean and when they were created.
Last year, the City of Parksville marked its first National Aboriginal Day ceremony, which has since been renamed to National Indigenous Peoples Day.
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“I’m pretty excited about the fact that they’re possibly going to come and share some artifacts. It’s an opportunity for us to learn about some of the history of the land that we live in,” Oates said.
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