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Day of Reconciliation 2009
Members of PSAC Aboriginal Peoples Committee attended the lively but peaceful demonstration that Carcross Tagish held in front of the Elijah Smith Building.
Lots of large placards with very clear, easy to read messages let everyone know what the demonstration was about. Three Yukon First Nation Chiefs and a Deputy Chief participated.
Reasonably short speeches were made by the chiefs, the deputy chief, traditional singers, and people in the audience. No dignitaries came forward from the Feds or Yukon Govt or City. The primary focus of the First Nation speeches were a call to action to the Federal government to honour their legal treaty obligations to Aboriginal peoples in Canada, as the next logical and practical step in the reconciliation process.
The whole event was enlivened tremendously by the traditional singers, drummers, and dancers. The area in front of the Elijah Smith building is a great echo chamber, and the drums could be heard the length of Main Street.
To wrap up the demonstration, Carcross Tagish led the people there in a lively musical march to the front of YTG's Land Claims Implementation (LCIS) office and back to the Elijah Smith building. YTG's LCIS office is only a block away from the Elijah Smith building, so the group could keep the volume of the drumming and singing ramped up to maximum all the way
Aboriginal Committee Member - Chrys Antaya
