The public is invited to a family-friendly Indigenous Peoples Day celebration and ball hockey tournament at tišosem on June 21.
Observed across Canada, Indigenous Peoples Day was established in 1996 to celebrate and recognize the cultures and contributions of First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples. This years theme is qatᶿɛnxegəs (qats-sun-wheegus), which means to unite or come together, according to a Tla’amin Nation media release.
“The Tla’amin look forward to hosting a great celebration this year,” stated hegus John Hackett. “In the spirit of our theme of qatᶿɛnxegəs, we invite our community members and our neighbours from qathet to join us in celebrating who we are as Tla’amin people and to honour our history and present-day culture, language and teachings.”
The celebration falls on the summer solstice, which is a day of cultural significance for Tla’amin as it marks the transition from one season to the next, the release stated.
The community gathering will include drum jams, Tla'amin cultural booths, salmon and bannock snacks, and art. The day will also mark the third annual Thichum Cup ball hockey tournament that runs from June 21 to 23.
According to the release, the annual tournament has a long and meaningful history in the community. Tla’amin citizen Sam Hackett organized the first Thichum Cup in 2009 as a memorial to honour Adam Louie and Lloyd Hackett.
“Thichum Forestry is proud to host this annual [ball tournament] event in the Tla’amin community and to pay respect to and carry on the tradition started so many years ago,” stated Adam Culos, general manager of Thichum Forestry. “Now more than ever, our communities can use a good reason to get together and have fun, play some ball hockey and enjoy some food.”
To hear and learn how to pronounce qatᶿɛnxegəs, listen to Tla'amin elder Elsie Paul on First Voices.
The Indigenous Peoples Day celebration will take place from 3:30 to 8 pm on June 21 at 4829 Waterfront Road.
To apply to be a vendor or register a team for the Thichum Cup, contact Kaycee Mitchell at [email protected]. To volunteer for the event, contact [email protected].
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