The Kingston community gathered at Confederation Park to mark a day of celebration of Indigenous Pride.
National Indigenous Peoples Day, held annually on June 21, is a nationwide celebration recognizing the history, heritage, and diversity of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples across Canada. In Kingston, community members gathered at Confederation Park for an afternoon of performances, teachings, and cultural activities organized to honour Indigenous traditions and create space for reflection and celebration.
The event was hosted by Kingston Native Centre and Language Nest offering opportunities for Indigenous and non-Indigenous attendees to engage with art, ceremony, food,
and learning.
The opening ceremony began at 1 p.m. on the main stage, featuring music, storytelling, and dancing. Surrounding the stage, a wide variety of food and market vendors offered Indigenous-made goods, including beaded earrings, orange shirts, dreamcatchers, and more.
In an interview with The Journal, one of the vendors from Yellowknife shared, “coming to this event is always nice, we get to sell and share our beautiful art with the community, art that people often don’t have access to during the rest of the year.”
The celebration also welcomed special guest Billie Kearns, Sci’19, also known as Billie the Kid, originally from Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. During the ceremony, she performed a spoken word piece reflecting on her journey from Yellowknife to Kingston, highlighting her transition to a less diverse institution, her experiences and retaining her cultural identity while living in Kingston.
The event included activities for all ages, such as a kids’ zone featuring an inflatable corn maze, a mural, red dress art installation, and teachings on the Four Sacred Medicines:
tobacco, sage, cedar, and sweet grass. These medicines hold deep cultural and spiritual significance in many Indigenous communities and are often used in ceremonies for healing,
protection, and connection.
Free of charge, the event welcomed many curious community members strolling through the downtown Kingston market, who were able to end their day at the celebration, grabbing a bite to eat and listening to stories on stage.
Tags
celebration, Indigenous, National Indigenous Day
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